'Ingenuous' definitions:
Definition of 'ingenuous'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; "an ingenuous admission of responsibility" [syn: ingenuous, artless] [ant: artful, disingenuous]
adjective
Lacking in sophistication or worldliness; "a child's innocent stare"; "his ingenuous explanation that he would not have burned the church if he had not thought the bishop was in it" [syn: innocent, ingenuous]
Definition of 'Ingenuous'
From: GCIDE
- Ingenuous \In*gen"u*ous\, a. [L. ingenuus inborn, innate, freeborn, noble, frank; pref. in- in + the root of gignere to beget. See Genius, and cf. Ingenious.]
- 1. Of honorable extraction; freeborn; noble; as, ingenuous blood of birth. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Noble; generous; magnanimous; honorable; upright; high-minded; as, an ingenuous ardor or zeal. [1913 Webster]
- If an ingenuous detestation of falsehood be but carefully and early instilled, that is the true and genuine method to obviate dishonesty. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Free from reserve, disguise, equivocation, or dissimulation; open; frank; as, an ingenuous man; an ingenuous declaration, confession, etc. [1913 Webster]
- Sensible in myself . . . what a burden it is for me, who would be ingenuous, to be loaded with courtesies which he hath not the least hope to requite or deserve. --Fuller. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Ingenious. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Note: (Formerly) printers did not discriminate between . . . ingenuous and ingenious, and these words were used or rather printed interchangeably almost to the beginning of the eighteenth century. --G. P. Marsh.
- Syn: Open; frank; unreserved; artless; plain; sincere; candid; fair; noble; generous.
- Usage: Ingenuous, Open, Frank. One who is open speaks out at once what is uppermost in his mind; one who is frank does it from a natural boldness, or dislike of self-restraint; one who is ingenuous is actuated by a native simplicity and artlessness, which make him willing to confess faults, and make known his sentiments without reserve. See Candid. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'ingenuous'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- artless,
- bluff,
- blunt,
- bold,
- born yesterday,
- broad,
- brusque,
- budding,
- callow,
- candid,
- childlike,
- confiding,
- cullible,
- deceivable,
- deludable,
- dewy,
- direct,
- downright,
- dupable,
- easy,
- explicit,
- exploitable,
- fair,
- fair and square,
- foolable,
- forthright,
- frank,
- frankhearted,
- free,
- free-speaking,
- free-spoken,
- free-tongued,
- genuine,
- green,
- growing,
- guileless,
- gullible,
- heart-to-heart,
- hoaxable,
- honest,
- honorable,
- hoodwinkable,
- humbugable,
- immature,
- impubic,
- inexperienced,
- ingenu,
- innocent,
- intact,
- juicy,
- just,
- minor,
- naive,
- natural,
- new-fledged,
- on the level,
- open,
- openhearted,
- outspoken,
- persuadable,
- plain,
- plain-spoken,
- raw,
- ripening,
- round,
- sappy,
- seduceable,
- simple,
- simplehearted,
- simpleminded,
- sincere,
- single-hearted,
- single-minded,
- soft,
- straight,
- straight-out,
- straightforward,
- suggestible,
- tender,
- transparent,
- trustful,
- trusting,
- trustworthy,
- unabashed,
- unadult,
- unaffected,
- unartificial,
- unchecked,
- uncomplicated,
- unconstrained,
- undeceitful,
- undeceptive,
- underage,
- undeveloped,
- undissembling,
- unequivocal,
- unfeigning,
- unfledged,
- unformed,
- unguarded,
- uninhibited,
- unlicked,
- unmellowed,
- unreserved,
- unrestrained,
- unripe,
- unschooled,
- unseasoned,
- unsophisticated,
- unstudied,
- unsuspicious,
- unwary,
- vernal,
- victimizable,
- virginal