What is a good word to use to describe someone who has that young, unknowing innocence about them?

Question

I'm trying to think of a good word that expresses the meaning of someone who, like a child who doesn't know of the bad things going on in the world, that is innocent and unknowing in a certain situation? I'm trying to describe a certain character of a book for any essay; any ideas of suitable words that match my description?

Answer 1

Naïve

adjective

(of a person or action) showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment. "the rather naive young man had been totally misled"

(of a person) natural and unaffected; innocent. "Andy had a sweet, naive look when he smiled"

synonyms: innocent, unsophisticated, artless, ingenuous, inexperienced, guileless, unworldly, trusting;

Answer 2

If you want to indicate the person's view of things may be overly positive, I would suggest "starry-eyed'

starry-eyed (adj.)

given to naive wishes, judgments, etc; full of unsophisticated optimism; gullible

Answer 3

A word we do not hear very often is callow, which is quite apt when applied to a young man or woman who is immature, a bit naive, and perhaps too idealistic.

We can forgive his optimism. After all, he is just a young, callow fellow.

Answer 4

Try ingenuous

It means showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness.

Answer 5

For a female, you can use

ingénue

an innocent or unsophisticated young woman

Oxford