naive

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At a news conference today with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Mr. Bush took aim at what he called a naive conclusion and a political leak.

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (8)

  1. adjective Lacking worldly experience and understanding, especially:
  2. adjective Simple and guileless; artless: a child with a naive charm.
  3. adjective Unsuspecting or credulous: "Students, often bright but naive, bet—and lose—substantial sums of money on sporting events” (Tim Layden).

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Examples

  • At a news conference today with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Mr. Bush took aim at what he called a naive conclusion and a political leak. —  CNN Transcript Sep 26, 2006
  • And the way McCain responded today is very similar to the way Hillary Clinton talks about Barack Obama, saying that that kind of talk, even suggesting or broadcasting, as McCain put it, to an ally, an ally that the United States relies on, he said that is "naive" -- Wolf. —  CNN Transcript Feb 20, 2008
  • (on camera): He says the U.S. should reject what he calls the naive and flawed thinking that by sitting down with terrorist groups and their sponsors like Iran, they'll stop being threats. —  CNN Transcript May 17, 2008
  • Though naive, they were not stupid. —  Operation Luna
  • Call me naive, and I suppose I was. —  Brother Ray
 

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Words tagged naive

irony · photogenic

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Naive has been looked up 715 times, favorited 0 times, listed 24 times, and commented on once.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

childlike ·  frank ·  ingenuous ·  foolish ·  childish ·  candid ·  ignorant ·  vulnerable ·  credulous ·  unsophisticated ·  pathetic ·  shy
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French naïve, feminine of naïf, from Old French naif, natural, native, from Latin nātīvus, native, rustic, from nātus, past participle of nāscī, to be born; see genə- in Indo-European roots.
 

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