naif

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /nɑˈif/ UK /naɪˈiːf/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a naive or inexperienced person

He arrived in the city a wide-eyed naif, easily taken in.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a naive or inexperienced... innocent ingenue greenhorn novice naive unsophisticated artless

Opposites

sophisticate cynic sophisticated worldly

Word family

Related forms naive naivety

Etymology

From French naïf ('naive'), masculine form of naïve, from Latin nativus ('native, natural, innate'), from natus, past participle of nasci ('to be born').

naïf French nativus Latin nasci Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# naif

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /nɑˈif/
**IPA (UK):** /naɪˈiːf/

## Meanings
1. a naive or inexperienced person

## Examples
- He arrived in the city a wide-eyed naif, easily taken in.

## Synonyms
- innocent
- ingenue
- greenhorn
- novice
- naive
- unsophisticated
- artless

## Antonyms
- sophisticate
- cynic
- sophisticated
- worldly

## Related Forms
- naive
- naivety

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: naïf
- Root: nativus
- Root: nasci

## Etymology
From French naïf ('naive'), masculine form of naïve, from Latin nativus ('native, natural, innate'), from natus, past participle of nasci ('to be born').

## AI Etymology
Naif comes from French naïf ('naive'), masculine form of naïve, from Latin nativus ('native, natural, innate'), from natus, past participle of nasci ('to be born'). The etymological trail includes French naïf, Latin nativus, and Latin nasci. As a noun, naif means a naive or inexperienced person. The same family is visible in related forms such as naive and naivety.

## Topics
- People & Society

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