different between sincere vs ingenuous

English

Etymology

From Middle French sincere, from Latin sincerus (“genuine”), from Proto-Indo-European *sin- + *?er- (“grow”), from which also Ceres (“goddess of harvest”) from which English cereal.

Unrelated to sine (“without”) cera (“wax”) (folk etymology); see Wikipedia discussion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?n?s??(?)/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Adjective

sincere (comparative more sincere or sincerer, superlative most sincere or sincerest)

1. Genuine; meaning what one says or does; heartfelt.

   I believe he is sincere in his offer to help.

2. Meant truly or earnestly.

   She gave it a sincere, if misguided effort.

3. (archaic) clean; pure

Synonyms

• earnest

Antonyms

• insincere

Related terms

• cereal
• Ceres
• crescent
• sincerity
• sincereness

Translations

Further reading

• sincere in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sincere in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• cereins, ceresin, cerines, renices

Esperanto

Etymology

sincera +? -e

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sin?t?sere/
• Hyphenation: sin?ce?re
• Rhymes: -ere

Adverb

sincere

1. sincerely

Antonyms

• malsincere (“insincerely”)

Italian

Adjective

sincere f pl

1. feminine plural of sincero

Anagrams

• censire, crisene, recensì, recinse, scernei, secerni

Latin

Etymology 1

Adverb

sinc?r? (not comparable)

1. uprightly, honestly, frankly, sincerely
   • 1st century, Catullus, Poem 109

     Di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit // atque id sincere dicat ex animo

Etymology 2

Adjective

sinc?re

1. vocative masculine singular of sinc?rus

References

• sincere in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sincere in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle French

Etymology

First attested in 1441, borrowed from Latin sinc?rus.

Adjective

sincere m or f (plural sinceres)

1. sincere (genuinely meaning what one says or does)

Descendants

• ? English: sincere
• French: sincère

References

Spanish

Verb

sincere

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of sincerarse.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of sincerarse.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of sincerarse.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ingenuus (“of noble character, frank”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?d??n.ju.?s/

Adjective

ingenuous (comparative more ingenuous, superlative most ingenuous)

1. Naive and trusting.
2. Demonstrating childlike simplicity.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 12

     "Do you mean to say you didn't leave your wife for another woman?"

     "Of course not."

     "On your word of honour?"

     I don't know why I asked for that. It was very ingenuous of me.

3. Unsophisticated; clumsy or obvious.
4. Unable to mask one's feelings.
5. Straightforward, candid, open, and frank.

Usage notes

Do not confuse with ingenious.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:naive

Antonyms

• disingenuous

Translations

Anagrams

• unigenous