English Explanatory Dictionary

gullible

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Easily deceived or duped; naive, easily cheated or fooled.
noun
  1. A gullible person; someone easily fooled or tricked.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡʌlɪbl̩/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-gullible.wav LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gullible.wav

Word forms

gullible more gullible most gullible gullibles

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Either from gull (“to dupe, trick, fool”) + -ible; or alternatively from Middle English gole, goll, gol (“an unfledged bird, silly fellow”), perhaps from Old Norse gulr (“yellow, pale”), from the hue of its down.

Synonyms

fleeceable green naif naive gullible credulous born yesterday fresh off the boat wide-eyed

Derived words

gullibility gullibleness gullibly nongullible
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on G Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary