gullible

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.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡʌlɪbl̩/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

gullible (comparative more gullible, superlative most gullible)

1. Easily deceived or duped; naive, easily cheated or fooled.

   Synonyms: fleeceable, green, naif, naive; see also Thesaurus:gullible

   Andrew is so gullible, the way he still believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman at the age of fourteen.

Noun

gullible (plural gullibles)

1. A gullible person; someone easily fooled or tricked.
   • 1991, Guy Endore, Babouk: Voices of Resistance, page 70:

     They pictured to these gullibles the unearthly delights that were to be enjoyed as servants of the Spaniards. But such tricks could not last, for Cuba was too close to Saint Domingue, and news of the real conditions leaked across the windward passage and were bruited about.

   • 1995, Carl Sagan, “The Most Precious Thing”, in The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark‎, 1st edition, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 5:

     Spurious accounts that snare the gullible are readily available. Skeptical treatments are much harder to find.

References

Anagrams

• bluegill