ingenue

noun

in·ge·nue ˈan-jə-ˌnü

ˈän-;

ˈaⁿ-zhə-,

ˈäⁿ-

variants or ingénue

: a naive girl or young woman

: the stage role of an ingenue

also : an actress playing such a role

Did you know?

Although Becky Sharp, the ambitious heroine of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel Vanity Fair, is not usually thought of as innocent or naive, the author used ingenue to describe her as having those qualities. Thackeray's use was attributive: "When attacked sometimes, Becky had a knack of adopting a demure ingenue air, under which she was most dangerous." The word ingenue typically refers to someone who is innocent to the ways of the world, so you probably won't be too surprised to learn that it shares an ancestor—Latin ingenuus—with ingenuous, a word meaning "showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness." More directly, our ingenue comes from French ingénue, the feminine form of ingénu, meaning "ingenuous."

Example Sentences

In her latest film she plays the part of an ingenue.

Recent Examples on the Web Picture this, a young plucky ingenue with dreams too big for life in a small corn field.

Michael Schneider, Variety, 19 Oct. 2022 Ozon’s movie is a great and undersung erotic thriller that pits a screen legend (Charlotte Rampling) against an emerging ingenue (Ludivine Sagnier) in a battle of wits and egos.

David Sims, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2022 In positioning Paul as the ingenue transformed by his entanglement with the lady, Three Weeks was more subversive than most standard romantic fare.

Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 4 Aug. 2022 Huxley, like Pollan, presented himself with great skill not as an initiate of an esoteric drug cult but an ingenue, undergoing and relaying extraordinary experiences on behalf of the general reader.

Lucy Jakub, The New York Review of Books, 3 Sep. 2021 Nancy Livingston, then an ingenue named Nancy Olson, who portrayed a novice screenwriter and Holden’s love interest, is the last surviving member of the cast.

Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2022 The novel contains all the tropes of popular escapist fiction: exotic locations, extravagant sumptuousness, an older, experienced person seducing a naive ingenue.

Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 4 Aug. 2022 Foster met that challenge and then some, bringing a quirkier personality and spunk to a role that can often read as a milquetoast ingenue.

Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 7 June 2022 And now that Michele is taking over the role from Beanie Feldstein in the first Broadway revival, an air of triumph seems to be turning the tides on perceptions of the Spring Awakening ingenue.

Naveen Kumar, Town & Country, 12 July 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ingenue.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.