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ingénue.

Noun
Literary
MEANING

A young woman presented as innocent or inexperienced, especially the corresponding role in drama.

Use it for

a theatrical innocent; a young character coded as inexperienced; apparent naivety in a role; casting distinguished from a real person’s whole personality

Words that belong together

  • play the ingénue
  • an ingénue role

On the page

She refused another ingénue role after proving she could carry the tragedy.
The apparent ingénue understood the bargain before any of the older guests did.

Nearby words

innocent young dramatic role

Related words

ingenue (spelling variant)innocent young role
Word forms
Base
ingénue

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Literary vocabulary

Usage notes

Primary category: psychological / character. Forms: Singular ingénue; plural ingénues. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.

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