how to say “naive” in Hebrew

 

תָּמִים, נָאִיבִי
 

 

 
The proper Hebrew word for naive is תָּמִים   , as appears in Danny Sanderson’s זֶה הַכֹּל בִּשְׁבִילֵךְ    This Is All for You:
 
אוֹ, דּוֹן קִישׁוֹט, אַל תִּהְיֶה כָּל כָּךְ תָּמִים.
Oh, Don Quixote, don’t be so naive.
 
 
But since this word has also been carrying the meanings of simple and perfect since its appearance in Biblical Hebrew, Modern Hebrew speakers tend to prefer the less ambiguous – albeit foreign – נָאִיבִי    to describe a male and נָאִיבִית    to describe a female.
 
For example:
 
הִיא מְבִינָה עִנְיָן – מִסְתַּבֵּר שֶׁהִיא לֹא כָּל כָּךְ נָאִיבִית.
She understands things – it turns out that she isn’t so naive.
 

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