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
Thanks to rapid advances in artificial intelligence, the cybercriminals seeking to dupe you into handing over your retirement funds or revealing company secrets are getting smarter and stronger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
The knight thought he could dupe the sailor.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
In Thailand, lawmakers are hearing a complaint by 126 fans who were duped by an offer to help them "wait in line" for tickets.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 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
A month later, Aguilar realized he was probably never going to get the residency cards and contacted an attorney who confirmed he had been duped.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
He has accepted that this might not be the last time he gets temporarily duped because he doesn’t want to let wariness get in the way of authentic opportunities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
It seemed as if the agents had once more been duped.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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
The indictment alleges the organisation had been duping its supporters by obtaining "money via donations through materially false representations and omissions about what the donated funds would be used for".
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 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
She told me she couldn’t stand the thought of Marcus duping more people into following him, and I didn’t argue with her.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
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.
