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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Noble; generous; magnanimous; honorable; upright;
high-minded; as, an ingenuous ardor or zeal.
[1913 Webster]
If an ingenuous detestation of falsehood be but
carefully and early instilled, that is the true and
genuine method to obviate dishonesty. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
3. Free from reserve, disguise, equivocation, or
dissimulation; open; frank; as, an ingenuous man; an
ingenuous declaration, confession, etc.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
4. Ingenious. [Obs.]
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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115 Moby Thesaurus words for "ingenuous":
artless, bluff, blunt, bold, born yesterday, broad, brusque,
budding, callow, candid, childlike, confiding, cullible,
deceivable, deludable, dewy, direct, downright, dupable, easy,
explicit, exploitable, fair, fair and square, foolable, forthright,
frank, frankhearted, free, free-speaking, free-spoken,
free-tongued, genuine, green, growing, guileless, gullible,
heart-to-heart, hoaxable, honest, honorable, hoodwinkable,
humbugable, immature, impubic, inexperienced, ingenu, innocent,
intact, juicy, just, minor, naive, natural, new-fledged,
on the level, open, openhearted, outspoken, persuadable, plain,
plain-spoken, raw, ripening, round, sappy, seduceable, simple,
simplehearted, simpleminded, sincere, single-hearted,
single-minded, soft, straight, straight-out, straightforward,
suggestible, tender, transparent, trustful, trusting, trustworthy,
unabashed, unadult, unaffected, unartificial, unchecked,
uncomplicated, unconstrained, undeceitful, undeceptive, underage,
undeveloped, undissembling, unequivocal, unfeigning, unfledged,
unformed, unguarded, uninhibited, unlicked, unmellowed, unreserved,
unrestrained, unripe, unschooled, unseasoned, unsophisticated,
unstudied, unsuspicious, unwary, vernal, victimizable, virginal
Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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