Ingenious means cleverly inventive — an ingenious solution. Ingenuous means innocent, open and unguarded, sometimes to the point of naivety. One is a compliment about intelligence, the other about candour, and they are two letters apart.
The core difference
Similar spellings, unrelated meanings, and one of them is more often met in its negative.
- ingenious — inventive, clever: an ingenious design.
- ingenuous — frank, innocent, unguarded: an ingenuous smile.
The negative you know better
Disingenuous — insincere, pretending not to know — is far more common than ingenuous itself. Recognising that disingenuous is its opposite is the quickest way to fix the pair in mind: ingenuous is sincere, disingenuous is not.
The roots
Both from Latin. Ingenious from ingenium, natural talent — the same root as engine. Ingenuous from ingenuus, freeborn, which carried a sense of the frankness expected of the freeborn.
Frequently asked questions
Which one means clever?
Ingenious. Ingenuous means innocent and open.
What does disingenuous mean?
Insincere — pretending not to know something. It is the opposite of ingenuous and much more commonly used.
Is ingenious related to engine?
Yes. Both come from Latin ingenium, natural talent or cleverness.