Artlessness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The attribute of being naive and sincere, characterized by a lack of affectation and a straightforward nature
2. The quality of being genuine and free from deception or pretension
3. A natural and uncontrived manner marked by openness and candidness

Etymology: Artlessness is a compound built from "artless" plus the suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality. The suffix is the older and more productive part of the story: it comes from Old English "-nes", ultimately related to the same ancestor that gave English its word for a state or condition, so the word is simply "the state of being artless." The base, "artless," is the more interesting piece. It joins "art," which in this sense descends from Latin "artem" (skill, craft) through Old French and entered Middle English as a word for skill or cunning, with "-less," from Old English "-lēas," meaning "without." So "artless" originally meant "without skill or craft," before it came to mean "without cunning or guile." That shift from lacking technical ability to lacking deceit is the heart of the word's meaning today: a person who has no artifice is someone who is not clever enough, or not calculating enough, to put on a show.

Synonyms: naivety, innocence, simplicity

Antonyms: artfulness, cunning