babes in the woods
Easily deceived newcomers
Babes in the woods are people who are naive, inexperienced, or vulnerable in a situation they don't fully understand.
The phrase comes from an old English folk tale about children abandoned in a forest.
It typically describes someone out of their depth: They were babes in the woods when it came to navigating corporate politics.
- babesVery young children
- childrenYoung human beings
- innocentsBlameless individuals
- naiveInnocently unsuspecting
- born yesterdayExtremely naive and credulous
helpless · lost · easy prey · unsophisticated · vulnerable · taken advantage of · fairy tale · folk tale · ballad · Norfolk · abandonment · nursery rhyme · greenhorns · fable · wilderness · novices · neophytes · betrayal
babes in the woodsworldly-wise
Experienced in practical matters
been around the block · old hand · veteran · old hands · veterans
babes in the woodswolves in sheep's clothing
Deceivers feigning harmlessness
con artists · predators · swindlers · hustlers · sharks
babes in the woodscon artist
Professional fraud perpetrator
shark · hustler · grifter · operator · wheeler-dealer
babe, babies, wood, woods, wooded, wooden, woodsy, woodland, woodlands