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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.

A growing number of African countries have in recent months begun to discover that their citizens have been duped into fighting for the Russian army, and either killed or captured on the battlefield.

From Barron's

The sophisticated Griswold worried that too many intelligent citizens were being duped by what he considered ghostly nonsense.

From Literature

How could one of the most sophisticated private-lending firms in the world be so badly duped?

From The Wall Street Journal

He said the Kenyan authorities had closed more than 600 recruitment agencies suspected of duping Kenyans with promises of jobs overseas.

From BBC

At the crux of the case was whether Rogers knowingly attempted to advance China’s interests or was unwittingly duped into providing information to spies he thought were academics.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.