What does "naive" mean?

1. (lacking experience) trusting people too much or believing things too easily because you do not have enough experience of the world. 2. (art style) describing art that is created in a simple, childlike way, often by someone who has not been formally trained. 3. (computing/math) describing a simple way of solving a problem that does not use complex or advanced methods. 4. (an inexperienced person) a person who lacks experience or is too trusting.

naive

adj. · n.

US //ˌnaɪˈiv// UK //naɪˈiːv// naive

1 lacking experience (adj.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

trusting people too much or believing things too easily because you do not have enough experience of the world.

demonstrating a lack of experience, wisdom, or informed judgement; often implies an idealistic but unrealistic view of the world.

Example

It was naive of him to think that the strangers would return his lost wallet.

Example

The young diplomat was criticized for his naive belief that a simple handshake could resolve decades of territorial conflict.
- innocent
- unsophisticated
- trusting
2 art style (adj.)
C1 Advanced Technical

describing art that is created in a simple, childlike way, often by someone who has not been formally trained.

relating to or denoting a style of art that is deliberately simple and lacks conventional expertise in perspective or anatomy.

Example

The museum has a beautiful collection of naive paintings by local farmers.

Example

The exhibition explores the charm of naive art, highlighting how these self-taught painters captured rural life without the constraints of formal perspective.
- primitive
- childlike
- academic
- professional

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3 computing/math (adj.)
C1 Advanced Technical Computing

describing a simple way of solving a problem that does not use complex or advanced methods.

referring to an algorithm or approach that is simple, direct, and lacks optimization or sophisticated heuristics.

Example

A naive search might take hours, but a better program can do it in seconds.

Example

While the naive implementation of the sorting algorithm is easy to code, its performance degrades significantly with larger datasets.
- simple
- unoptimized
- optimized
- sophisticated
4 an inexperienced person (n.)
C2 Proficiency Literary

a person who lacks experience or is too trusting.

an individual characterized by a lack of sophistication or worldly wisdom.

Example

In the story, the young naive arrives in the big city with high hopes.

Example

The protagonist is portrayed as a wide-eyed naive who is eventually hardened by the harsh realities of the political machine.
- greenhorn
- novice
- expert
- veteran

Origin

Borrowed from French naïve, feminine form of naïf, from Latin nātīvus (“native, natural”). Doublet of native.