naif

/nɑˈif/

Other forms: naifs

A naif is a person with very little experience. When you're just starting a new job, you often feel like a naif.

You might have noticed how similar the noun naif is to the adjective naive. They share a common origin, the French word naïf, which means both "natural, unspoiled, or innocent" and also "foolish." When you describe someone using the adjective form of naif — which can be used interchangeably with naive — you are usually implying that the person is a little childlike or immature.

Definitions of naif

1. noun

   a naive or inexperienced person
   type of:

   inexperienced person, innocent

   a person who lacks knowledge of evil
2. adjective

   marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
   synonyms: naive

   credulous

   disposed to believe on little evidence

   uninformed

   not informed; lacking in knowledge or information

   childlike, dewy-eyed, round-eyed, simple, wide-eyed

   exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity

   credulous

   showing a lack of judgment or experience

   fleeceable, green, gullible

   naive and easily deceived or tricked

   ingenuous, innocent

   lacking in sophistication or worldliness

   simple-minded

   lacking subtlety and insight

   unsophisticated, unworldly

   not wise in the ways of the world

   unworldly

   not concerned with the temporal world or swayed by mundane considerations