guilelessness
guilelessness — noun
1. The quality of being innocent and trusting, so that you expect other people to b
The quality of being innocent and trusting, so that you expect other people to be honest and do not imagine they might harm or deceive you.
Because of his guilelessness, Wei handed over his savings to a man who promised to double the money in a week.
because of [someone]'s guilelessness — shows the trait causing a concrete trusting action
The little girl's guilelessness was plain when she eagerly accepted a ride from a neighbour she barely knew.
Javier's guilelessness was so complete that he never noticed when his roommate was lying.
There was a touching guilelessness in how Amara believed every claim the travel agent made about the so-called luxury hotel.
Sophie mistook Kwame's guilelessness for low intelligence until she realised he just assumed everyone else was as honest as he was.
- innocence
wider term that can include moral purity; guilelessness focuses on absence of deceit
- naivety
stronger implication of inexperience and being easily fooled; more negative than guilelessness
- artlessness
slightly dated and literary; emphasises naturalness over inexperience
文法句型
guilelessness of [someone]
用法筆記
Frequently carries a slightly protective or pitying tone from the speaker — the guileless person is seen as vulnerable to being taken advantage of.
常見錯誤
2. The quality of being open and direct in what you say and do, without trying to h
The quality of being open and direct in what you say and do, without trying to hide your real feelings or using clever tricks to get an advantage.
Hana's guilelessness in the meeting meant she said what others were too polite to mention.
guilelessness in [doing something] — prepositional pattern
When the board asked Ravi if his figures were optimistic, his guilelessness forced him to admit the forecast was partly guesswork.
guilelessness + admit — refusing to hide an inconvenient truth
David admired the guilelessness of the old carpenter who charged fair prices for his work.
Priya's guilelessness in negotiations meant she refused to pretend she had other offers, even when her colleagues urged her to bluff.
With characteristic guilelessness, Nadia admitted she had broken the vase before anyone could ask.
- duplicity
deliberate deception or dishonesty in speech or action
- disingenuousness
pretending to be more honest or innocent than one really is
文法句型
guilelessness in [doing something]
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is not about being easily fooled but about refusing to use trickery oneself. The person is honest by choice, not by ignorance.