#703. Artlessness. -- N. artlessness &c. adj; nature, simplicity; innocence &c. 946; bonhomie, naivete, abandon, candor, sincerity; singleness of purpose, singleness of heart; honesty &c. 939; plain speaking; epanchement[Fr].
rough diamond, matter of fact man; le palais de verite[Fr]; enfant terrible[Fr].
V. be artless &c. adj; look one in the face; wear one's heart upon his sleeves for daws to peck at[obs]; think aloud; speak out, speak one's mind; be free with one, call a spade a spade.
Adj. artless, natural, pure, native, confiding, simple, lain, inartificial[obs], untutored, unsophisticated, ingenu[obs], unaffected, naive; sincere, frank; open, open as day; candid, ingenuous, guileless; unsuspicious, honest &c. 939; innocent &c. 946; Arcadian[obs]; undesigning, straightforward, unreserved, aboveboard; simple-minded, single-minded; frank-hearted, open-hearted, single-hearted, simple-hearted.
free-spoken, plain-spoken, outspoken; blunt, downright, direct, matter of fact, unpoetical[obs]; unflattering.
Adv. in plain words, in plain English; without mincing the matter; not to mince the matter &c. (affirmation) 535.
Phr. Davus sum non Oedipus [Terence]; liberavi animam meam[Lat]; "as frank as rain on cherry blossoms" [E.B. Browning].