dupe

¹

[doop, dyoop]

noun

1. duplicate.

2. Movies.

   1. a duplicate picture negative used for making additional release prints or for making special effects to be inserted in the release negative.

   2. the procedure for producing such a duplicate.

3. Television.,  a duplicate videotape obtained by electronic printing of the original videotape.

verb (used with or without object)

duped, duping 

1. to duplicate.

adjective

1. duplicate.

dupe

²

[doop, dyoop]

noun

1. a person who is easily deceived or fooled; gull.

2. a person who unquestioningly or unwittingly serves a cause or another person.

   a dupe of the opponents.

verb (used with object)

duped, duping 

1. to make a dupe of; deceive; delude; trick.

dupe

/ djuːp /

noun

1. a person who is easily deceived

2. a person who unwittingly serves as the tool of another person or power

verb

1. (tr) to deceive, esp by trickery; make a dupe or tool of; cheat; fool

Other Word Forms

• dupable adjective
• dupability noun
• duper noun
• undupable adjective
• dupery noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dupe¹

First recorded in 1895–90; by shortening

Origin of dupe²

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; hoopoe

Word History and Origins

Origin of dupe¹

C17: from French, from Old French duppe, contraction of de huppe of (a) hoopoe (from Latin upupa ); from the bird's reputation for extreme stupidity

Example Sentences

His KGB contact, who believes him to be a double agent, raises the stakes by asking him for information on Faith—though she has encouraged Gabriel to accept Soviet payments to dupe the Russians.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He claimed he had been "completely duped" over the facts about the Hillsborough disaster.

Read more on BBC

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.

Read more on Literature

"Others were duped just like me," said the 54-year-old, who now lives in a nearby village crammed together with six relatives in a two-bedroom house.

Read more on Barron's

Pahlawan's crew would later testify they had been duped into taking part, having believed they were working as fishermen.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• baffle 
• bamboozle 
• betray 
• cheat 
• deceive 
• defraud 
• delude 
• hoodwink 
• mislead 
• swindle 
• victimize