Meanings
adjectiveguileless (comparative more guileless, superlative most guileless)
comparative more guileless · superlative most guileless
- Free from guile; honest but naive.
To foreigners we often seem guileless and overchatty, an impression which is dispersed when they find that much of our friendliness is just the ebullition of the moment and does not carry with it any permanence of devotion.
1923 February 11, Mme. X. [pseudonym], “News of Chicago Society: Now That War’s Over, On with Full Dress, Men”, in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, final edition, volume LXXXII, number 6, Chicago, Ill., →ISSN, →OCLC, part 7, page 5, columns 6–7
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivefree of deceit
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishguile
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Englishguileless
Translations
Ancient Greek ἄδολος, εὐήθης
- ἄδολος (ádolos)honest but naive
- εὐήθης (euḗthēs)honest but naive
Bengali নিষ্কপট, কুটিলতাবর্জিত
- নিষ্কপট (niśkopoṭ)honest but naive
- কুটিলতাবর্জিত (kuʈilôtabôrjitô)honest but naive
Bulgarian наивен, простодушен
- наивен (naiven)honest but naive
- простодушен (prostodušen)honest but naive
Catalan candorós
- candoróshonest but naive
Dutch argeloos
- argelooshonest but naive
Esperanto simplanima
- simplanimahonest but naive
French candide
- candidehonest but naive
German arglos
- argloshonest but naive
Icelandic falslaus, einlægur
- falslaushonest but naive
- einlægurhonest but naive
- heiðvirðurhonest but naive
Irish soineanta
- soineantahonest but naive
Italian ingenuo
- ingenuohonest but naive
Tamil வெள்ளை
- வெள்ளை (veḷḷai)honest but naive
Cite this entry
APA
guileless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guileless
MLA
“guileless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guileless. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “guileless,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/guileless.
Source: guileless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.