ingenuous
adjective
[ ɪnˈdʒɛnjʊəs ]
• (of a person or action) innocent and unsuspecting.
• "he eyed her with wide, ingenuous eyes"
Similar:
naive,
innocent,
simple,
childlike,
trusting,
trustful,
over-trusting,
unwary,
unsuspicious,
unguarded,
unsceptical,
uncritical,
unworldly,
wide-eyed,
inexperienced,
green,
open,
sincere,
honest,
frank,
candid,
undeceitful,
direct,
forthright,
artless,
guileless,
genuine,
unaffected,
unstudied,
unsophisticated,
Origin:
late 16th century: from Latin ingenuus literally ‘native, inborn’, from in- ‘into’ + an element related to gignere ‘beget’. The original sense was ‘noble, generous’, giving rise to ‘honourably straightforward, frank’, hence ‘innocently frank’ (late 17th century).
