Artless means simple and natural, with no cunning at all. An artless remark, artless charm, artless honesty.
It is a compliment, which surprises people who expect the -less to be a lack. The art in it means craft or cunning rather than painting, so artless means unschemed — and its opposite, artful, means sly rather than skilful.
1adjectiveartlessSimple and natural, with no cunning at all.
“The child's artless questions made everyone at the table laugh.”
artless is a quality.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂er-
Middle English
art
English
art
English, today
artless
Built from
From art + -less. art comes from Middle English art. From Middle English art, from Old French art, from Latin artem, accusative of ars (“art”). Partly displaced native Old English cræft, whence Modern English craft. See also archaic English list (“art, craft, cunning, skill”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA