ingenu

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ingenu

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French ingénu (“guileless”), especially as used by Voltaire in L'Ingénu, from Latin ingenuus (“ingenuous”). Doublet of ingenuous.

noun ingenus · ingénu

rare An innocent, unsophisticated, naive, wholesome boy or young man. Even a casual reader of the philosophic tale will have met, in the array of types on parade-an oft-repeated "naïf" (who was anything but naive), at least one famed "candide," and several "ingénus."
Opposite: homme fatal

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MLA

"ingenu." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ingenu. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ingenu. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ingenu

Chicago

"ingenu." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ingenu.

BibTeX

@misc{ingenu_2026,
  title = {ingenu},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ingenu},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}