naïveté
noun/nɑˌiːvˈteɪ/ · /nɑˌiːvəˈteɪ/
Etymology Borrowed from French naïveté. See also nativity.
1
Lack of sophistication, experience, judgement or worldliness; artlessness; gullibility; credulity.
- “You see, I do not know how to pick out any particular part of the diary.” Even while he was speaking an idea dawned upon him, and he said with unconscious simplicity, in a different voice, and with the naïveté of a child: “That’s quite true, upon my honour. Honest Indian!”1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula:
- Maybe Mr. “Buckley” should know to be more skeptical about what’s dished out to him by popular culture. But apart from that, it’s hard to see how it’s his fault. He simply accepted what the most widely available and accessible sources of information claimed was true. For his naïveté, he was systematically misled and bamboozled.1995, Carl Sagan, “The Most Precious Thing”, in The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, 1st edition, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 5:
1 more example
- In poring over these vile and well-preserved folders full of antisemitica in the Foreign Ministry archives, one senses a naïveté, even earnestness among Sugihara's generation.2019, Hillel Levine, In Search of Sugihara:
- Related terms
- naïve