Ingenuo
NOUN/ADJECTIVE
Meaning and English translation 🔖
1. Naive, innocent, guileless
🇬🇧 Lacking malice, candid, innocent; showing simplicity of spirit.
🇮🇹 Privo di malizia, candido, innocente; che rivela semplicità d'animo.
2. Gullible, unsophisticated
🇬🇧 Not shrewd, inexperienced, unwary; easily deceived.
🇮🇹 Poco furbo, inesperto, sprovveduto; facile da ingannare.
NOUN
| Masculine ♂️ | Feminine ♀️ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | l' - un ingenuo | l' - un' ingenua | |
| Plural | gli - degli ingenui | le - delle ingenue | - |
ADJECTIVE
| Masculine ♂️ | Feminine ♀️ | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Ingenuo | Ingenua |
| Plural | Ingenui | Ingenue |
Example sentences 💬
Era così ingenuo da credere a tutto quello che gli dicevano.
He was so naive that he believed everything they told him.
Da bambina ero molto ingenua e pensavo che tutti fossero buoni.
As a child I was very naive and thought everyone was good.
Il suo sguardo ingenuo rivelava che non aveva mai affrontato situazioni difficili.
His innocent look revealed that he had never faced difficult situations.
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Idioms with ingenuo 🇮🇹
Fare l'ingenuo
→ To play innocent, to act naive
Non fare l'ingenuo, sai benissimo di cosa sto parlando!
Don't play innocent, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about!
Domanda ingenua
→ Naive question
Forse è una domanda ingenua, ma perché non provate a parlarne direttamente?
Maybe it's a naive question, but why don't you try talking about it directly?
Sorriso ingenuo
→ Innocent smile
Mi ha conquistato con quel suo sorriso ingenuo e sincero.
He won me over with that innocent and sincere smile of his.
Aria ingenua
→ Innocent/naive look
Ha sempre quell'aria ingenua che ti fa venire voglia di proteggerlo.
He always has that innocent look that makes you want to protect him.
Essere troppo ingenuo
→ To be too naive
Sei troppo ingenuo se pensi che ti restituiranno i soldi senza un contratto.
You're too naive if you think they'll give you the money back without a contract.
Approfittarsi degli ingenui
→ To be disarmingly naive
La sua ingenuità disarmante lo rendeva amabile nonostante tutto.
His disarming naivety made him lovable despite everything.
Solo un ingenuo
→ Only a simpleton
Solo un ingenuo potrebbe credere a una promessa del genere.
Only a simpleton would believe such a promise.
Where does the word ingenuo come from? 🔎
Ingenuo comes from the Latin ingĕnŭu(m), which meant "native, natural". It is composed of in- (inside) and the root of gignĕre (to generate). Originally, it referred to a person "born free", hence honest and without ulterior motives. Over time, the term evolved to mean "candid" and "without malice", and eventually took on a more negative connotation describing someone overly gullible or inexperienced.
