dupe
1 Americannoun
-
a person who is easily deceived or fooled; gull.
-
a person who unquestioningly or unwittingly serves a cause or another person.
a dupe of the opponents.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb (used with or without object)
adjective
noun
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a person who is easily deceived
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a person who unwittingly serves as the tool of another person or power
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dupe1
First recorded in 1675–85; from French; Middle French duppe for unattested tête d'uppe “head of hoopoe,” i.e., “fool” (compare tête de fou ), from unattested Vulgar Latin uppa, Latin upupa “hoopoe,” a bird thought to be especially stupid; cf. hoopoe
Origin of dupe2
First recorded in 1895–90; by shortening
Explanation
A dupe is a furry, ceremonial hat worn during ancient pagan rituals...or not. Dupe actually means “trick or deceive.” We’re sorry we tried to dupe you into believing the wrong definition. Dupe can also refer to the victim of a trick or hoax, and — used in this sense — it sometimes conveys the idea that the victim is easily fooled. Dupe comes from the French word for a type of bird called the hoopoe, which has an extravagant crest and a reputation for being dim-witted. (And no, that's not another attempt to dupe you; it's the truth!)
Vocabulary lists containing dupe
Tricky Terms for April Fool's Day
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Warm-up, List 1
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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.
See Examples For:
Perfetti: On our best day, we’re trying to dupe people into believing that it’s real life.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
Before this season, savvy pitchers with expert command and dazzling spin had been able to dupe human umps into calling strikes on balls just off the plate, a time-honored tradition that had existed for generations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Experts call this a type of fraud "social engineering" - where scammers dupe their victims using psychological manipulation, instilling fear and urgency.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
It took a hit this week after former executives accused it of manipulating markets to dupe consumers into buying its products.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2025
“That is the most unforgiving speech,” said Elizabeth, “that I ever heard you utter. Good girl! It would vex me, indeed, to see you again the dupe of Miss Bingley’s pretended regard.”
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Several African countries have in recent months reported that their citizens have been duped into fighting for the Russian army with many dying on the battlefield.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
The trial hinged on the question of whether Rogers was knowingly advancing China’s interests in sharing information, or had been duped into helping spies he believed were academics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
And because Kendall didn’t disclose that she was paid to promote the ill-fated festival, she was ordered to pay $90K in restitution to the event’s duped investors.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
Everybody has felt heartbreak or confusion or duped or confused or distrustful of their own intuition and all of that stuff.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
People who had been duped by the broadcast were angry at Welles and CBS.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
Scammers have become increasingly adept at duping customers into sending payments through elaborate social engineering schemes, including by developing romantic connections to their victims.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
He said the Kenyan authorities had closed more than 600 recruitment agencies suspected of duping Kenyans with promises of jobs overseas.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
The agency, which protects consumers from unfair business practices, accused Amazon of duping people into automatically renewing their Amazon Prime subscriptions through “manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025
Alongside developing a relationship with fans and duping them into thinking Fegan was real Tegan, Fegan crossed other boundaries with Tegan's personhood.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2024
The entire food chain of intermediaries in the subprime mortgage market was duping itself with the same trick, using the foreshortened, statistically meaningless past to predict the future.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
