From astute to gullible

Almost every word here carries a verdict, and gutgläubig carries two, depending on where it is said. In conversation it is a mild reproach: someone who trusts too readily, a gentler cousin of leichtgläubig and blauäugig. Gutgläubig hat sie dem Fremden ihre Kontonummer gegeben is said with a sigh. In a contract or a courtroom the same word is a shield. A gutgläubiger Käufer is a buyer who had no reason to doubt that the seller was entitled to sell, and German civil law can let such a buyer become the owner even though the seller never was. The word that makes a victim sound naive makes a purchaser sound blameless. So when you meet gutgläubig, ask first whether you are hearing a friend or reading a judgment. The rest of the list runs along one line, from scharfsinnig to arglos, and nearly every word on it says as much about the speaker’s opinion as about the person described.