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, dup·ing.

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, dup·ing.

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 Words From

• 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

Wohl and Burkman also duped The Washington Post last year, when the pair staged a fake FBI raid that The Post briefly reported on, then removed.

From Washington Post

It is insulting to suggest that they are mere dupes or tools.

From Washington Post

“I understand, sir,” said Young, an MBA graduate who has said he felt “duped” by the Oath Keepers and whose sister has also been charged after signing up with the group.

From Washington Post

However, we are less inclined to accept being duped into voting a certain way by big tech social media forces.

From Singularity Hub 

The males co-opted by the fungus also flick their wings like females to dupe other males into attempting sex.

From Washington Post

It was a beautified camp the Nazis used to dupe international visitors and officials.

From The Daily Beast

Anyone who disagreed with their thinking, including fellow Republicans, was a traitor, or a liar, or a dupe.

From The Daily Beast

Steven decided to dupe his doctor when he returned from his elite boarding school exhausted by the intense competition there.

From The Daily Beast

But they apparently rejected the idea that Rana remained a dupe once the carnage in India had happened.

From The Daily Beast

Parker would dupe customers into buying polyester sweaters he claimed were 100 percent cashmere, then gloat about how easy it was.

From The Daily Beast

But Mr. Howard, dupe or rogue, was extremely busy in publishing to the world the particulars of this extraordinary case.

From Project Gutenberg

He knows when a sentiment is simple and when it is complex, when the heart is a dupe of the mind and when of the senses.

From Project Gutenberg

Had my spirit really been transported to the planet Mars, or had I been the dupe of a purely imaginary illusion?

From Project Gutenberg

He imagined himself the dupe of one of those mirages which he had more than once beheld when in his dreamy moods.

From Project Gutenberg

Whoever does not know this and is a Socialist, that man is merely one of the herd or he is a dupe.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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