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ingenuous - 4 dictionary results
in⋅gen⋅u⋅ous
[in-jen-yoo-uh
s]
–adjective
| 1. | free from reserve, restraint, or dissimulation; candid; sincere. |
| 2. | artless; innocent; naive. |
| 3. | Obsolete. honorable or noble. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To ingenuous
in·gen·u·ous (ĭn-jěn'yōō-əs) adj.
[Latin ingenuus, honest, freeborn; see genə- in Indo-European roots.] in·gen'u·ous·ly adv., in·gen'u·ous·ness n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Ingenuous
In*gen"u*ous\, a. [L. ingenuus inborn, innate, freeborn, noble, frank; pref. in- in + the root of gignere to beget. See Genius, and cf. Ingenious.]1. Of honorable extraction; freeborn; noble; as, ingenuous blood of birth. 2. Noble; generous; magnanimous; honorable; upright; 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 genuine method to obviate dishonesty. --Locke. 3. Free from reserve, disguise, equivocation, or dissimulation; open; frank; as, 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. [Obs.] --Shak. Note: (Formerly) printers did not discriminate between . . . ingenuous and ingenious, and these words were used or rather printed interchangeably almost to the beginning of the eighteenth century. --G. P. Marsh. Syn: Open; frank; unreserved; artless; plain; sincere; candid; fair; noble; generous. Usage: 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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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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."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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