How to Use naïf in a Sentence

naïf

noun
  • But Murphy doesn’t quite know what to do with a naif like Monica (cf.
    — Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2021
  • Obama is neither an out-of-his-depth naif nor a reactive realist.
    — Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2012
  • From reckless naif to cautious veteran of pain and regret, Becc traces a route familiar to many of us.
    — oregonlive.com, 1 Aug. 2019
  • Angourie Rice plays our ostensible heroine Cady Heron as more of an earnest naif.
    — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
  • There’s a Twain-like quality to this loyal naif who skewers without intending to.
    — Washington Post, 6 July 2020
  • There is a risk of turning Artie into a naif, but in her careful, close observations, his depths become increasingly legible.
    — John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 2 May 2026
  • Photos of them ping around the web like a House of Hoops highlight reel, as fans and basketball-naifs alike scrutinize the fashion choices of their favorite players.
    — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 24 Oct. 2017
  • Sonny, the political naif, suddenly has mastered the procedures of the Texas House and turns them to his advantage.
    — Shawna Seed, Dallas News, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Sorkin sets up Schultz, the prosecutor for the federal government, as a political naif increasingly at odds with his own case.
    — Chris Hewitt, Star Tribune, 15 Oct. 2020
  • With long hair and stubble, Fletcher is grungy and sweet, a seemingly free-spirited naif who also is, when the movie requires it, a font of Lone Star wisdom.
    — Jim Kiest, San Antonio Express-News, 8 July 2021
  • Barclays was accused of defrauding those financial naifs at Citibank—even while Justice claimed that Citibank perpetrated the same scheme.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2018
  • Aaron Paul is still good as Pinkman, an older and wearier character than the young naif who started working as White’s assistant in the first season more than a decade ago.
    — T.w., The Economist, 14 Oct. 2019
  • Just a few months ago, most Washington establishment types would have sneered at the notion of a political naif running for president on little more than box-office juice, huge pecs, and a dazzling smile.
    — Michelle Cottle, The Atlantic, 5 June 2017
  • In 2012, Popkin had learned about trees to cure this blindness in himself and went from a naif who could barely pick out an oak tree to an amateur arboriculturist who can distinguish hundreds of trees.
    — Susan Crawford, WIRED, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Chaplin the promethean filmmaker was also his own worst enemy, a comedic and business genius, a political naif, even a poseur in certain ways, but also a man who could never escape either his childhood or his attraction to childlike women.
    — John Anderson, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2021
  • Christie was a naif who weathered being publicly dumped by her first husband, losing both parents suddenly, seeing the horrors of World War I as a nurse and enduring a mental illness that led to an extended disappearance.
    — Chris Hewitt, Star Tribune, 16 Oct. 2020
  • Christie was a naif who weathered being publicly dumped by her first husband, losing both parents suddenly, seeing the horrors of World War I as a nurse and enduring a mental illness that led to an extended disappearance.
    — Chris Hewitt, chicagotribune.com, 21 Oct. 2020
  • In his directorial debut, Early, who also wrote the film, plays Maddie, a blonde naif who skyrockets to viral fame for recipes created in the test kitchen of GourMaybe, a fictional but winkingly all-too-familiar online content hub.
    — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'naïf.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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