Ingenuous vs Ingenious
ingenuous
naive/innocent
ingenious
clever/inventive
How to tell them apart
ingenUOUS = a naive YOUth (the U-U = wide, innocent eyes). ingeniOUS hides GENIUS (ingeni-US), so it means clever.
Test yourself
Fill in the blank: “Only one of these words means naive/innocent. That word is ______.”
Choose: ingenuous or ingenious
Show answer
Answer: ingenuous
Ingenuous means naive/innocent, which matches naive/innocent. Ingenious means clever/inventive, so it is the wrong choice here.
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