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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

in·gen·u·ous

Audio Help [in-jen-yoo-uh

s] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	free from reserve, restraint, or dissimulation; candid; sincere.

2.	artless; innocent; naive.

3.	Obsolete. honorable or noble.

[Origin: 1590–1600; < L ingenuus native, free-born, honorable, frank, equiv. to in- in-² + gen- (base of gignere; see ingenious) + -uus deverbal adj. suffix; see -ous

]

—Related forms

in·gen·u·ous·ly, adverb

in·gen·u·ous·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. frank, straightforward, open. 2. guileless.

—Usage note See ingenious.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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ingenuous

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

in·gen·u·ous Audio Help (ĭn-jěn'yōō-əs) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Lacking in cunning, guile, or worldliness; artless.
Openly straightforward or frank; candid. See Synonyms at naive.
Obsolete Ingenious.

[Latin ingenuus, honest, freeborn; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]

in·gen'u·ous·ly adv., in·gen'u·ous·ness n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ingenuous

1598, from L. ingenuus "with the virtues of freeborn people, of noble character, frank," originally "native, freeborn," from in- "in" + gen-, root of gignere "beget, produce" (see genus). Sense of "artless, innocent" is 1673, from notion of "honorably straightforward."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

ingenuous
adjective
1.	characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; "an ingenuous admission of responsibility" [ant: artful]
2.	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]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ingenuous

Can*did\ (k[a^]n"d[i^]d), a. [F. candide (cf. It. candido), L. candidus white, fr. cand[=e]re to be of a glowing white; akin to accend[e^]re, incend[e^]re, to set on fire, Skr. chand to shine. Cf. Candle, Incense.]

1. White. [Obs.]

The box receives all black; but poured from thence, The stones came candid forth, the hue of innocence. --Dryden.

2. Free from undue bias; disposed to think and judge according to truth and justice, or without partiality or prejudice; fair; just; impartial; as, a candid opinion. "Candid and dispassionate men." --W. Irving.

3. Open; frank; ingenuous; outspoken.

Syn: Fair; open; ingenuous; impartial; just; frank; artless; unbiased; equitable.

Usage: Candid, Fair, Open, Frank, Ingenuous. A man is fair when he puts things on a just or equitable footing; he is candid when be looks impartially on both sides of a subject, doing justice especially to the motives and conduct of an opponent; he is open and frank when he declares his sentiments without reserve; he is ingenuous when he does this from a noble regard for truth. Fair dealing; candid investigation; an open temper; a frank disposition; an ingenuous answer or declaration.

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