These two words, which sound so alike, are actually nearly opposites. Ingenuous means “to be artless, simple, innocent; lacking in cunning, guile, or worldliness.” It also means “openly straightforward or frank; candid.”
If you are ingenuous, you have an inability to mask your feelings; you are not devious
Ingenious means “to be particularly imaginative, clever, inventive.”
See disingenuous.
Example: Her idea was so ingenious that it went completely over the head of her ingenuous new assistant.
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"ingenuous, ingenious." Grammar.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Dec. 2024. <https://www.grammar.com/ingenuous-ingenious>.
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