ingenuous /ɪnˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.əs/ adjective5 •Naive and trusting. •Demonstrating childlike simplicity."Do you mean to say you didn't leave your wife for another woman?" "Of course not." "On your word of honour?" I don't know why I asked for that. It was very ingenuous of me. — 1919 •Unsophisticated; clumsy or obvious.[…] Semitic agitation by stating 'the truth' in terms of facts and figures, the practice of self-criticism represented a well-intended but ingenuous effort to defend Jewry against anti-Semitism. — 1978 •Unable to mask one's feelings. •Straightforward, candid, open, frank. formsmore ingenuous · most ingenuous