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Synonyms

dupe

1 American  
[doop, dyoop] / dup, dyup /

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 2 American  
[doop, dyoop] / dup, dyup /

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 British  
/ djuːp /

noun

  1. a person who is easily deceived

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

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

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; hoopoe

Origin of dupe2

First recorded in 1895–90; by shortening

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.

Large language models are used to write convincing emails to dupe people out of their money, causing an eight-fold increase in complaints from older Americans as they lost $4.9 billion in online fraud in 2025.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

People should also watch out for scams, with criminals attempting to dupe taxpayers by purporting to be from HMRC.

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026

Her younger sister might be a candidate for a dupe version of a high-end coat, handbag or pair of sunglasses.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 1, 2025

This type of asset is sometimes called a dupe or a useful idiot.

From Slate • Sep. 4, 2025

There was no doubt about it, the foxes were trying to dupe the Warlord.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

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.