dupe

¹

[ 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

²

[ 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

/ 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

Derived Forms

• ˈdupable, adjective
• ˌdupaˈbility, noun
• ˈdupery, noun
• ˈduper, noun

Other Word Forms

• dup·a·ble adjective
• dup·a·bil·i·ty [doo-p, uh, -, bil, -i-tee, dyoo-], noun
• dup·er noun
• un·dup·a·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

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

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

Those who attended the three-day event complained they were duped into false advertising and demanded refunds.

From BBC

"But if it's £39 a month, what if there's a million people being duped?"

From BBC

TikTok, one particularly problematic Chinese export, is mental fentanyl designed to addict the Western masses and dupe them into poisonous ideologies — and Communist Party spyware, to boot.

From Los Angeles Times

Now, after two and a half months of court testimony, a jury must decide whether the dead man’s wife, Monica Sementilli, orchestrated his murder, or was duped by her jealous lover.

From Los Angeles Times

If a parody account's name is particularly long, and only a shortened version appears in feeds or replies, users can unwittingly duped - especially if the account's image matches that of the real person.

From BBC

Related Words

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