naïf
/nɑːˈiːf/
naïf adjective: naive.
Adjective
naïf (comparative more naïf, superlative most naïf)
- Naive.
- Doenitz was naïf to assume that England would have stood idly by while Germany built up her U-boat force to four figures; but it was true enough that the German Navy was unprepared for a submarine war.1947, S.E. Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Little, Brown, & Company, page 5
Noun
naïf (plural naïfs)
- One who is naive.
- Now I could see there was no real rogue here, but a naïf who thought that world would always turn for him.2008, Monte Dwyer, Red In The Centre: The Australian Bush Through Urban Eyes, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 145
- On “Fearless,” Swift sharpened her lyrical specificity, using proper nouns and detailed renderings of conversations and experiences to create an indelible image of Taylor Swift, the savvy naïf.2021 April 12, Carrie Battan, “Taylor Swift Wins with “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)””, in The New Yorker
Forms of naïf
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more naïf |
| superlative | most naïf |
| alternative form | naif |
| Noun | |
| plural | naïfs |
Origin of naïf
Borrowed from French naïf. Doublet of native and neif.
Words formed from naïf
Words that rhyme with naïf
Questions about naïf
- What does naïf mean?
- Naïf means naive.
- What part of speech is naïf?
- Naïf can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce naïf?
- Naïf is pronounced /nɑːˈiːf/.
Words near naïf in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: naïf (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-naïf.wav.
Cite this entry: “naïf.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/na%C3%AFf. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.