ingenuous C2 Topic:Describing People US /ɪnˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.əs/ See IPA manual Freq #71822 Meanings 1 adj Innocent and trusting in a simple, honest way; not suspicious of others. Her ingenuous smile showed she had no idea she was being teased. 2 adj Open and honest; saying exactly what you think. He gave an ingenuous answer, admitting his mistake without excuses. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · innocent and trusting in a... innocentartlessnaive 2 adj · open and honest; saying... candidfrank ↔ Opposites disingenuous Word family Derived forms ingenuouslyingenuousnessuningenuous Related forms ingenuingenue Etymology AI details Learned borrowing from Latin ingenuus (“of noble character, frank”). Doublet of ingenu. ingenuus Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing People Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # ingenuous **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ɪnˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.əs/ **Frequency rank:** 71822 ## Meanings 1. Innocent and trusting in a simple, honest way; not suspicious of others. 2. Open and honest; saying exactly what you think. ## Examples - Her ingenuous smile showed she had no idea she was being teased. - He gave an ingenuous answer, admitting his mistake without excuses. ## Antonyms - disingenuous ## Derived Forms - ingenuously - ingenuousness - uningenuous ## Related Forms - ingenu - ingenue ## Roots and Affixes - Root: ingenuus ## Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin ingenuus (“of noble character, frank”). Doublet of ingenu. ## AI Etymology Ingenuous is a learned borrowing from Latin ingenuus (“of noble character, frank”). Doublet of ingenu. Important recorded forms include ingenuus (Latin). Current senses include innocent and trusting in a simple, honest way; not suspicious of others and open and honest; saying exactly what you think. The wider family includes derived forms such as ingenuously, ingenuousness, and uningenuous and related words such as ingenu and ingenue. ## Topics - Describing People - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown