ingenue
/ˈɑnʒənu/noun
ingenue is spelled I-N-G-E-N-U-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 81,375th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ingenue means “An innocent, unsophisticated, naïve, wholesome girl or young woman” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ingenue is ingenues or ingénues.
How many letters and syllables are in ingenue?
| Letters | 7: I-N-G-E-N-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 81,375th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ingenue?
Ingenue appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 81,375th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ingenue?
- US /ˈɑnʒənu/
- UK /ˌænʒeɪˈnjuː/
Ingenue has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ingenue.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ingenue?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as ingenue (/ɑnʒənu/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: genuine.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ingenue
- ingenues plural
- ingénue
- ingénues plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ingenue mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An innocent, unsophisticated, naïve, wholesome girl or young woman.
Near-synonym: girl next door
- 2
A dramatic role of such a woman; an actress playing such a role.
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of ingenue.
Wiktionary also records ingenue as a common misspelling of another word in some uses; the senses above are its own.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does ingenue come from?
Borrowed from French ingénue, the feminine form of ingénu (“guileless”), originally from the Latin ingenuus (“ingenuous”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).