naïfness

English

Etymology

From naïf +‎ -ness.

Noun

naïfness (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of naiveness
   • 1846, Social Influences: or Villiers, volume I, London: T. C. Newby, page 206:

     Hence, if in fine—exposed hourly to the novelty and naïfness of so versatile, capricious, and momentarily contradictory a disposition—the admiration predominated above the marvel, he considered it did so but because it could not, by possibility, be withheld—never dreaming of a comparison with Grace Evrett, between whom and the rest he recognised an impassable line,—for it was she who had infused new life into his veins, and, long as that new life lasted, so long should herself be its inseparable essence.

   • 1899, Harper’s Magazine, page 501:

     They are quick to detect a false note in construction or delineation of character, and, with the charming naïfness of children, are never afraid to express their real opinion.

   • 1899, Alexander H[ay] Japp, Some Heresies Dealt With, page 172:

     Worship of ancesors, direct or indirect, looms as clearly behind Mosaism or Jahwéism as it does behind Hinduism and the mixed later worships of the Chinese and Burmans—and Sir G. Birdwood is quite right about the naïfness of the Jews here.

   • 1906, The Humane Review, page 169:

     We expect, indeed, that last verse of the poem just quoted from the very start, yet in all its sweet naïfness it comes as a surprise—a surprise from its simplicity and its reserve of grace, and because of this it is a true lyric.