Word Confusion: Ingenious versus Ingenuous

Posted April 28, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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It could have been an ingenious idea if only the writer hadn’t been so ingenuous in their writing.

It’s only one letter that distinguishes this word confusion ingenious vs ingenuous.

While both are adjectives, ingenious is all about the smart, clever, or resourceful and used most often in reference to ideas, inventions, and solutions considered to be clever.. Do beware confusing genius with ingenious.

Ingenuous, on the other hand, generally refers to a person. Those considered innocent, artless, frank, or sincere. Think child or naive.

Consider:

“The ingenuous inventor signed away the rights to his ingenious new creation without realizing it.”

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

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Ingenious	Ingenuous
A Mousetrap of Rain Downspouts by broesis is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. — An ingenious idea for adding downspouts and making it interesting.	Beautiful Innocent by TieuBaoTruong is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. — An ingenuous girl peaceful in the meadow.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective	Adjective
[Of a person] Clever, original, and inventive [Of a machine or idea] Cleverly and originally devised and well suited to its purpose [Obsolete] Intelligent Showing genius	[Of a person or action] Innocent and unsuspecting Free from reserve, restraint, or dissimulation Candid Sincere Artless Naive [Obsolete] Honorable or noble
Examples:
He was ingenious enough to overcome the limited budget. The shop is full of ingenious devices. His theory, while ingenious, is most assuredly incorrect. Fred was an ingenious press agent.	He eyed her with wide, ingenuous eyes. She’s staggeringly ingenuous, or possibly very cunning indeed. “I know you wouldn’t wish me to affect an interest I do not feel,” said Haggard with an ingenuous smile” (Wills). She was a con artist with the ingenuous smile of a child. He seemed too ingenuous for a reporter.
Derivatives:
Adjective: half-ingenious Adverb: half-ingeniously, ingeniously Noun: ingeniousness	Adjective: disingenuous, half-ingenuous Adverb: half-ingenuously, ingenuously Noun: ingénue, ingenuity, ingenuousness
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the French ingénieux or the Latin ingeniosus, from ingenium meaning mind, intellect.	Late 16th century, from the Latin ingenuus literally meaning native, inborn, from in- (into) + an element related to gignere (beget). The original sense was noble, generous, giving rise to honorably straightforward, frank, hence innocently frank in the late 17th century.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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