artlessness

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art·less

(ärt′lĭs)

adj.

1. Having or displaying no guile or deceit; honest or sincere: an artless child. See Synonyms at naive.

2. Free of artificiality; natural: artless charm.

3. Lacking art, knowledge, or skill; uncultured and ignorant.

4. Poorly made or done; crude.

art′less·ly adv.

art′less·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun	1.	artlessness - the quality of innocent naivete ingenuousness, innocence, naturalness naiveness, naivete, naivety - lack of sophistication or worldliness innocency - an innocent quality or thing or act; "the innocencies of childhood"
	2.	artlessness - ingenuousness by virtue of being free from artful deceit ingenuousness - openly straightforward or frank artfulness - the quality of being adroit in taking unfair advantage

Translations

artlessness

[ˈɑːtlɪsnɪs] N

1. (= straightforwardness) [of beauty] → naturalidad f; [of person, behaviour, comment] → ingenuidad f, falta f de malicia

2. (= clumsiness) → torpeza f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

artlessness

n → Unschuld f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in classic literature ?

Every line is an idea conveying either the beauty and playfulness of the fawn, or the artlessness of the maiden, or her love, or her admiration, or her grief, or the fragrance and warmth and appropriateness of the little nest-like bed of lilies and roses which the fawn devoured as it lay upon them, and could scarcely be distinguished from them by the once happy little damsel who went to seek her pet with an arch and rosy smile on her face.

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Artlessness will never do in love matters; and that girl is born a simpleton who has it either by nature or affectation.

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"Why should others come between us?" she said with an artlessness of feeling that delighted Luigi.

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Noticing that all eyes were turned on him he raised his head and smiled a smile of childlike artlessness.

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Let us examine into this, and observe the exquisitely artful artlessness of the plan.

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She had all the natural grace of sweetness of temper and artlessness in herself.

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The vulgar freedom and folly of the eldest left her no recommendation, and as Elinor was not blinded by the beauty, or the shrewd look of the youngest, to her want of real elegance and artlessness, she left the house without any wish of knowing them better.

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"That's the state of the case, for that much I've seen myself." And then they both stared at me, and I, with an obtrusive show of artlessness on my countenance, stared at them, and plaited the right leg of my trousers with my right hand.

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By the merits of his sea-wise forefathers and by the artlessness of his heart, he was made fit to deliver this excellent discourse.

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"I thought we were an old family; but this is all new!" she said, in her artlessness. She wished that she had not fallen in so readily with her mother's plans for "claiming kin," and had endeavoured to gain assistance nearer home.

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So, in a word, Briggs told all her history, and Becky gave a narrative of her own life, with her usual artlessness and candour.

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"It is very clear, notwithstanding," replied the young man, with an artlessness wholly free from affectation; "tell her some fine morning an unheard-of piece of intelligence -- some telegraphic despatch, of which you alone are in possession; for instance, that Henri IV.