naivete
Unseasoned trust in others
Naivete is a lack of experience, sophistication, or critical judgment—the quality of being naive.
It can be innocent and endearing: There was a charming naivete about her first novel.
Or it can suggest dangerous gullibility: His naivete about office politics cost him the promotion.
Also spelled naïveté, preserving the French diacritics.
Freedom from wrongdoing
- purityUncontaminated quality
- guilelessnessAbsence of cunning
- ingenuousnessInnocent frankness, without cunning
- artlessnessSincere, unfeigned manner
candor · sincerity · wholesomeness · openness · transparency · trustfulness · genuineness · simpleness
Ease of being deceived
- credulityUncritical acceptance of claims
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
- susceptibilityLiability to influence
exploitability · impressionability · blind faith · easy mark · soft touch
Lack of prior exposure
- greennessState of being verdant
- rawnessUnrefined or exposed state
- newnessState of being recent
- unripenessState of incomplete maturation
immaturity · callow · untested · unschooled · untrained · unseasoned · wet behind the ears · wide-eyed
innocence
Freedom from wrongdoing
- purityUncontaminated quality
- guilelessnessAbsence of cunning
- ingenuousnessInnocent frankness, without cunning
artlessness · candor · sincerity · wholesomeness · openness · transparency · trustfulness · genuineness · simpleness · unaffectedness
gullibility
Ease of being deceived
- credulityUncritical acceptance of claims
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
susceptibility · exploitability · impressionability · blind faith · easy mark · soft touch
inexperience
Lack of prior exposure
unripeness · immaturity · callow · untested · unschooled · untrained · unseasoned · wet behind the ears · wide-eyed · starry-eyed
- blind spotsscotoma, bias, unconscious bias, oversight, confirmation bias
- flawsfaults, defect, flaw, blemish, flaws
- foolishnessfoolishness, silliness, foolish, stupid, folly
- honestyhonesty, truthfulness, candor, sincerity, dishonesty
- human follyhubris, pride, vanity, greed, arrogance
- mental statesknowledge, conscious, mood, anxious, memory
naiveteworldliness
Secular, experienced outlook
sophistication · experience · street smarts · savviness · knowingness
naivetecunning
Sly, scheming cleverness
guile · artfulness · craftiness · shrewdness · slyness
- naive artUntrained, childlike creative work