variants also naivete or naiveté
1
2
as in gullibility
readiness to believe the claims of others without sufficient evidence though he was streetwise, the investigative reporter regularly assumed an air of naïveté when he was interviewing confidence men, charlatans, counterfeiters, and other assorted swindlers of the general public

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples of naïveté in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The naivete is challenging to understand when attackers use virtually every standard tool—from hardware and software to cloud resources—to conduct their operations. Denis Mandich, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024 Anderson plays Shelley with a consummate sweetness that sometimes registers as naivete. Esther Zuckerman, TIME, 7 Sep. 2024 That is sort of where the disappointment comes from … my naivete. Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 17 Sep. 2024 But for whatever naivete the interaction implies, Sweetpea is no ingénue. Chloe Schama, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2024 How Oz convinces others to go along with his schemes or save his skin becomes a recurring bit that would be impossible to believe if there wasn’t a real-world parallel proving just how plausible people’s heinous naivete has become. Ben Travers, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024 MacKay has the perfect blend of naivete and curiosity, and all the others, particularly Gallagher as the longtime Friend deliver. Pete Hammond, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2024 Reflecting on the saga now, Siwa is convinced her naivete had worked to her advantage. Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Aug. 2024 Whether led by great hubris or sweet naivete, Treadwell ignored all common sense and conventional wisdom about the animals and began to consider them as friends. Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'naïveté.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Thesaurus Entries Near naïveté

Cite this Entry

“Naïveté.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/na%C3%AFvet%C3%A9. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.

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