unsophisticated

[ uhn-suh-fis-ti-key-tid ]

adjective

1. not sophisticated; sophisticated; simple; artless.

   Synonyms: inexperienced, naive, ingenuous

2. without complexity or refinements:

   a relatively unsophisticated mechanism.

3. unadulterated; pure; genuine.

unsophisticated

/ ˌʌnsəˈfɪstɪˌkeɪtɪd /

adjective

1. lacking experience or worldly wisdom
2. marked by a lack of refinement or complexity

   an unsophisticated machine

3. unadulterated or genuine

Derived Forms

• ˌunsoˈphistiˌcatedness, noun
• ˌunsoˈphistiˌcatedly, adverb

Other Words From

• unso·phisti·cated·ly adverb
• unso·phisti·cated·ness unso·phisti·cation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unsophisticated¹

First recorded in 1620–30; un- ¹ + sophisticated

Example Sentences

Yet even on the sweatiest and most unsophisticated of nights, I watch women on the club’s smoking patio apply the gloss that I know is $60 from my recent “Sort by: Price High to Low” Sephora search.

From Los Angeles Times

This is because the American people are politically unsophisticated and are easily manipulated to believe things that are not true.

From Salon

Israeli censorship rules prevent media outlets saying exactly where or what was targeted, but some media outlets say the location was hit by a low-level drone launched from Lebanon - a relatively unsophisticated weapon that appears not to have activated early warning alarms.

From BBC

The American public is politically unsophisticated, which means that many people are easily moved by emotional appeals and scary-sounding words — at least to them — such as “communism” and “socialism.”

From Salon

The New York Times, which had vigorously supported the Iraq invasion published four op-eds defending Strauss, polemics that employed ridicule and condescension against the unsophisticated critics who supposedly didn’t “get” the philosopher’s subtle arguments.

From Salon

Related Words

• guileless
• inexperienced
• naive
• straightforward
• uninvolved