ingenuous
in-JEN-yoo-usadjMeaning innocent, trusting and open; with nothing to hide
Memory hook in-GENU-ous: GENUine, no tricks. When the teacher asks who forgot their homework, little Theo’s hand shoots up at once: he hides nothing. He is ingenuous.
With ingenuous delight, Theo told the whole family exactly what he had bought Mom for her birthday.
In context The new student was ingenuous, not crafty: when the teacher asked whether she had read the book, she admitted at once that she had only watched the movie.
Similar innocent, naive, trusting, candid
Opposite sly, crafty, disingenuous
From Latin ingenuus, “freeborn; frank, open”: a person born free, with nothing to hide.