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Definition of Ingenuous
1. Adjective. Characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious. "An ingenuous admission of responsibility"
Similar to: Candid, Heart-to-heart, Open, Undistorted
Also: Sincere, Naif, Naive
Derivative terms: Artlessness, Ingenuousness
Antonyms: Disingenuous
2. Adjective. Lacking in sophistication or worldliness. "His ingenuous explanation that he would not have burned the church if he had not thought the bishop was in it"
Definition of Ingenuous
1. a. Of honorable extraction; freeborn; noble; as, ingenuous blood of birth.
Definition of Ingenuous
1. Adjective. Naive and trusting. ¹
2. Adjective. Demonstrating childlike simplicity. ¹
3. Adjective. Unsophisticated; simple. ¹
4. Adjective. Unable to mask one's feelings. ¹
5. Adjective. Straightforward, candid, open, and frank. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Ingenuous
1. [adj]
Medical Definition of Ingenuous
1. 1. Of honorable extraction; freeborn; noble; as, ingenuous blood of birth. 2. Noble; generous; magnanimous; honorable; uprigth; high-minded; as, an ingenuous ardor or zeal. "If an ingenuous detestation of falsehood be but carefully and early instilled, that is the true and genuin method to obviate dishonesty." (Locke) 3. Free from reserve, disguise, equivocation, or dissimulation; open; frank; sa, an ingenuous man; an ingenuous declaration, confession, etc. "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) 4. Ingenious. Synonym: Open, frank, unreserved, artless, plain, sincere, candid, fair, noble, generous. 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Ingenuous
Literary usage of Ingenuous
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Political Text-book, Or Encyclopedia: Containing Everything Necessary by Michael W. Cluskey (1857)
"... had scrupulously guarded the distinction of ingenuous and servile birth, which
was decided by the condition of the mother. The slaves who were liberated ..."
2. The Life of Benvenuto Cellini by Benvenuto Cellini, John Addington Symonds (1889)
"... distinguished academical writer to whose correction he submitted them refused
to spoil their ingenuous grace by alterations or stylistic improvements. ..."
3. The Lancet (1842)
"... and appear to be introduced only for the purpose of exciting ingenuous
reasoning," coupled with the holding of views which are " wild," "visionary," ..."
4. The Puritans: Or, The Church, Court, and Parliament of England, During the by Samuel Hopkins (1861)
"THEIR Ingenuous BOLDNESS. — THEY ARE ENLARGED. — AGAIN ARRESTED. — MR. BARROW'S
EXAMINATION. 1586-1588. THERE was a young man in London, a member of the ..."
5. Publications by Shakespeare Society (Great Britain) (1853)
"TO HIS Ingenuous AND MUCH-LOV'D FRIEND, THE AUTHOR. You now amids our Muses
Smithfield are, To sell your Pegasus, where hackney ware (Rid by the swish swash ..."
6. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1831)
"But as every act of dissimulation must be painful to an ingenuous spirit, the
profession of Christianity increased the aversion of Julian for a religion, ..."
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