1. showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness; free from deception or cunning

Examples

• Her ingenuous smile convinced everyone of her honesty.
• The child’s ingenuous questions about death made the adults uncomfortable.
• He gave an ingenuous account of what happened, holding nothing back.
• Her ingenuous nature made her easy to take advantage of.
• The politician’s ingenuous manner seemed refreshing after so many scandals.
• With ingenuous enthusiasm, she shared all her business ideas with competitors.