Unsophistication

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state or quality of being simple and lacking worldly experience or refinement
2. A condition characterized by plainness and a lack of sophistication or complexity
3. The attribute of being unsophisticated, showing innocence or a straightforward nature

Etymology: "Unsophistication" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "sophistication". The noun "sophistication" comes from "sophisticate", which traces back through Late Latin "sophisticare" to the Medieval Latin "sophisticus" and ultimately to Greek "sophistikos", a word for skill in reasoning and argument. The noun carries the sense of the state of being sophisticated, and its negation names the opposite: a quality of simplicity, innocence, or straightforwardness rather than worldliness. The base word itself has an interesting turn. Its Greek ancestor was tied to the Sophists, teachers of rhetoric whose cleverness could be admired or distrusted, and the word's gradual drift toward a sense of being worldly and polished is what makes its opposite meaningful. The formation with "un-" is a modern English coinage, not an ancient one.

Synonyms: naivety, simplicity, innocence, crudeness, lack of sophistication

Antonyms: sophistication, refinement, cultivation, complexity, elegance