How to Use ingenue in a Sentence

ingenue

noun
Definition of ingenuenext
Synonyms for ingenuenext
  • In her latest film she plays the part of an ingenue.
  • At just 18, pop ingenue Gia Woods was ready to burst out of the closet.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 22 Nov. 2019
  • Picture this, a young plucky ingenue with dreams too big for life in a small corn field.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 19 Oct. 2022
  • Still, the archetype Viard portrayed was not the wanton woman, nor the ingenue.
    — Barry Samaha, Harper's BAZAAR, 6 Oct. 2020
  • The only surprising thing in the pic is the number of U-turns the screenplay expects us to accept along the ingenue's path to the spotlight.
    — John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Oct. 2019
  • The ingenue wore a head-to-toe Chanel ensemble, inspired by the brand's Fall 2019 collection.
    — Barry Samaha, Harper's BAZAAR, 10 Feb. 2020
  • Our favorite pick of the bunch is this pair of olive sunglasses that looks like something a Hollywood ingenue would have worn in the ’60s.
    — Jake Smith, Glamour, 29 Aug. 2023
  • This, despite the fact that there are few things that Oscar voters seem to love more than a breakthrough ingenue in Best Actress.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 22 Feb. 2021
  • And Rachel is no wide-eyed ingenue dazzled by Sorokin’s tacky displays of wealth and gaggle of celebrity hangers-on.
    — Hayley Maitland, Vogue, 28 Feb. 2022
  • And should said moments function as a lesson in French girl beauty—from femme fatale to ingenue—all the better.
    — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2018
  • But when country legend Ruthanna Ryder decides to help the ingenue, the spotlight means AnnieLee's past may catch up with her.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE.com, 16 Feb. 2022
  • Liz is blessed with the kind of Broadway-pure soprano that every budding ingenue dreams of having.
    — Randy Cordova, azcentral, 11 May 2018
  • Barks plays Vivian like a classic bright-eyed ingenue, conscious of her worth and ready to prove it, rather than as a street-smart, wary kid who needs a nudge to demand more of herself.
    — Aja Romano, Vox, 17 Aug. 2018
  • When Ross landed Black-ish, a department head mistook her for an ingenue.
    — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2020
  • On screen Parker got trapped in a pattern of type — ingenue, wife of, up-and-coming grand dame, a tough but beautiful lawyer thrown in on occasion.
    — Helena Andrews-Dyer, Washington Post, 23 June 2023
  • He was cast as a grandfather; Hayes played an ingenue type who is present when a terrible secret is revealed.
    — Carolyne Zinko, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Jan. 2018
  • These are no longer the musings of an ingenue, but rather a grown woman who understands that happiness is fleeting.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 22 Oct. 2021
  • Didato’s Marvin is, at first, a kind of male ingenue trying to stay afloat in a world of ruthless women who long ago tossed their moral compasses.
    — Christine Dolen, miamiherald, 22 Jan. 2018
  • Yet the model, Kari-Ann Muller, is less a pouting ingenue than a knowing predator, teeth bared, who is laying a trap, a gold record peeking out from behind her wrap.
    — Greg Kot, chicagotribune.com, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Playing the young wife-to-be, Winslet straddles the line between ingenue and brat with an almost impossible blend of English rose and untamed shrew.
    — Manuel Betancourt, Vulture, 27 May 2021
  • And, most recently, as publishing ingenue Kelsey Peters on Younger since 2015, Duff has made a strong case for taking the subway in stilettos.
    — Katherine Singh, refinery29.com, 22 Feb. 2021
  • These aren't the shrinking violets or breathless ingenues.
    — Dana Oland, idahostatesman, 23 May 2018
  • Mia Farrow as Rosemary is the epitome of a doe-eyed ingenue, complete with lacy nightgowns and a Vidal Sassoon pixie cut.
    — Caitlin Morton, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2021
  • Perhaps Tár destroyed the ingenue’s career without cause, or maybe Krista really was as disturbed as Tár claims.
    — Becca Rothfeld, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2023
  • No longer the enigmatic ingenue, she’s graduated to mother roles, starring as a single parent of two teenagers in 1980s Paris.
    — Gregg Kilday, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2022
  • In Venezuela, one man has ruled as king in transforming fledgling ingenues into flawless beauty queens: Osmel Sousa.
    — Washington Post, 6 July 2018
  • The story is literally about an ingenue rising to global fame.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, hinting that the ingenue might be coming for her second significant statue.
    — Keyaira Boone, Essence, 19 Nov. 2020
  • The loose lines and watercolors make for a theatrical composition in which this ingenue is the star — no leading man necessary.
    — Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Foster met that challenge and then some, bringing a quirkier personality and spunk to a role that can often read as a milquetoast ingenue.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 7 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ingenue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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