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

Other Word Forms

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

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

McDonald, who runs Lost Art Records, is concerned AI dupes could damage the credibility of artists like Foley, especially for people who don't know their sound.

From BBC

Because Western elites have allowed themselves to be duped by the Brotherhood’s two-faced strategy.

From Los Angeles Times

Plenty of companies have tried to make dupes of the scent, but fans say nothing truly compares to its mix of light strawberry-milk sweetness and darker, toasted-sugar depth.

From Salon

Online scammers continue to dupe a majority of American adults as they infiltrate virtual calendars and security systems meant to defend users against the poaching of personal information.

From Los Angeles Times

The agency asserted that the giant online retailer had “knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime” and “knowingly complicated the cancellation process for Prime subscribers who sought to end their membership.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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