ingenues
Guileless young women
Ingenues is the plural of ingenue, a stock character in drama: a young woman who is innocent, wholesome, and naive.
The term extends to actresses who specialize in such roles, and to any young woman who seems artless or unsophisticated: The ingenues in romantic comedies always seem to trip into the arms of the leading man.
The word retains its French spelling and pronunciation.
Innocently unsuspecting
- innocentFree from moral wrong
- youthfulSeeming not old
- wholesomeConducive to well-being
- pureUnmixed, without impurities
virginal · unsophisticated · guileless · wide-eyed · sweet · demure · vulnerable · trusting
Pert stage servant role
- debutanteFormally introduced young woman
- starletRising young actress
- leading ladyPrincipal female performer
- understudyBackup actor, ready nightly
romantic lead · chorus girl · showgirl · Broadway · audition · casting · typecast · repertory
Rising young actress
- screen testFilmed casting evaluation
- studio systemVertically integrated film production
- leading rolePrincipal character's part
- typecastRepeatedly assigned similar roles
romantic interest · coming-of-age · debut · breakout role · Hollywood · Bollywood · leading lady · cinematography
Brave female protagonist
- protagonistStory's central figure
- JulietFemale name, phonetic J
- OpheliaGreek name meaning help
- coming-of-ageYouth becoming adulthood
Cosette · bildungsroman · novel · Victorian · Austen · romantic fiction · narrative · characterization
naive
Innocently unsuspecting
pure · virginal · unsophisticated · guileless · wide-eyed · sweet · demure · vulnerable · trusting · sheltered
soubrette
Pert stage servant role
- debutanteFormally introduced young woman
- starletRising young actress
- leading ladyPrincipal female performer
understudy · romantic lead · chorus girl · showgirl · Broadway · audition · casting · typecast · repertory · melodrama
starlet
Rising young actress
- screen testFilmed casting evaluation
- studio systemVertically integrated film production
- leading rolePrincipal character's part
typecast · romantic interest · coming-of-age · debut · breakout role · Hollywood · Bollywood · leading lady · cinematography · close-up
heroine
Brave female protagonist
- protagonistStory's central figure
- JulietFemale name, phonetic J
- OpheliaGreek name meaning help
Cosette · coming-of-age · bildungsroman · novel · Victorian · Austen · romantic fiction · narrative · characterization · archetype
- character typesprotagonist, hero, antagonist, villain, heroes
- theater peopleactors, actor, directors, actresses, actress
- theaterplays, stage, play, onstage, acting
- actorsactor, actors, actresses, film actor, actress
- girls fictionheroines, girl power, schoolgirls, princesses, coming-of-age
- TV peoplenews anchor, newscaster, presenter, reporter, talk show host
ingenuesfemmes fatales
Irresistibly dangerous women
vamps · seductresses · sirens · temptresses · man-eaters
ingenuessophisticates
Worldly, cultured individuals
women of the world · cynics · veterans · old hands · battle-axes
ingenuesfemmes fatales
Irresistibly dangerous women
leading ladies · divas · matriarchs · villainesses · character actresses
- Yankee ingenuityResourceful improvisation, stereotypically American
ingenuity, disingenuous, ingenuous, ingenue, ingenuousness, ingenuously, ingenuities, disingenuously, disingenuousness