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Definition of "ingenuous" []

  • Lacking in cunning, guile, or worldliness; artless. (adjective)
  • Openly straightforward or frank; candid. See Synonyms at naive. (adjective)
  • Obsolete Ingenious. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "ingenuous" in a sentence
  • "Criminals on trains often adopted what the researchers described as ingenuous tactics in their activities."
  • "George Kembel, head of the Stanford d. school, calls the ingenuous device a $19,975 cost-savings."
  • "It is Jan who is "regurgitating" the kind of ingenuous drivel that a million half-arsed career pundits are lining up to declare on CH4 news and Newsnight."