gullible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gullible
Explanation
If you are gullible, the joke is on you because you are easily fooled. It is thought that gullible might be derived from the verb gull, meaning "to swallow." This would be a funny coincidence as gullible describes an overly trusting person who tends to swallow the stories he hears whole. The related word, gull, can be used as a noun "don't be such a gull!" or as a verb "you can't gull me into believing that!"
Vocabulary lists containing gullible
Tricky Terms for April Fool's Day
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Walk Two Moons
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The dweeb so desperately wanted to be a superhero that he launches a war against real ones in order to turn their powers into weapons he then sells to a gullible public.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Selling her conceptual pieces to gullible consumers, she says, is possible because “Contemporary art is a scam . . . the real art is convincing people you’re making something meaningful and complex.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
"People say that victims are gullible but the scams are put together well", they are very "sophisticated", said a source close to the investigation.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
And the message-board-born concept of a “lolcow,” a gullible user who can be goaded into making a fool of themselves on a regular basis, definitely predated the music video.
From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2026
At least, that’s the way Onofre himself liked to tell the story when he had an audience of children and other gullible creatures who believed in werewolves, flibbertigibbets, and miracles.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
