gullible

English

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.

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.

Derived terms

• gullibility
• gullibly

 

Translations

easily deceived or duped, naive

• Arabic: سَاذَج (ar) m (sāḏaj)

  Iraqi Arabic: قَشْمَرْ (Qašmar)

• Armenian: դյուրահավատ (hy) (dyurahavat), միամիտ (hy) (miamit)
• Belarusian: даве́рлівы (be) (davjérlivy), легкаве́рны (ljehkavjérny)
• Bulgarian: доверчи́в (bg) (doverčív), наи́вен (bg) (naíven), лекове́рен (bg) (lekovéren)
• Catalan: ingenu (ca) m, albat (ca) m, càndid (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 容易輕信的 / 容易轻信的 (róngyì qīngxìn de), 輕信別人的 / 轻信别人的, 輕信別人的 / 轻信别人的 (qīngxìn biérén de)

• Czech: důvěřivý (cs), naivní (cs), lehkověrný (cs)
• Danish: godtroende, enfoldig, naiv
• Dutch: naïef (nl), lichtgelovig (nl), goedgelovig (nl)
• Esperanto: kredema, naiva (eo)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: herkkäuskoinen (fi), sinisilmäinen (fi), hyväuskoinen (fi)
• French: crédule (fr), naïf (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: einfältig (de), leichtgläubig (de), naiv (de), gutgläubig (de)
• Greek: εύπιστος (el) m (éfpistos), αφελής (el) m (afelís)
• Hebrew: פֶּתִי (he) m (péti)
• Hungarian: hiszékeny (hu), naiv (hu), becsapható, rászedhető (hu), átejthető
• Icelandic: trúgjarn, auðtrúa
• Interlingua: credule
• Italian: credulone (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ឆោត (km) (chaot)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: crēdulus
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: naiv (lb), liichtgleeweg, topeg
• Macedonian: лековерен (lekoveren)
• Malay: lurus bendul, lurus macam bendul
• Maori: tūpatokore
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: godtroende (no), lettlurt, naiv (no)

  Nynorsk: godtruande, lettlurt, naiv

• Occitan: creserèl (oc), credul (oc)
• Polish: naiwny (pl), łatwowierny (pl)
• Portuguese: crédulo (pt)
• Russian: дове́рчивый (ru) (dovérčivyj), простоду́шный (ru) (prostodúšnyj), наи́вный (ru) (naívnyj), легкове́рный (ru) (lexkovérnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ла̏кове̄ран, ла̏ковје̄ран

  Roman: lȁkovēran (sh), lȁkovjēran

• Slovak: dôverčivý, naivný, ľahkoverný
• Spanish: crédulo (es), cándido (es), ingenuo (es), engañadizo m
• Swedish: lättlurad (sv)
• Tagalog: mapaniwalain
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: saf (tr), naif (tr)
• Ukrainian: дові́рливий (dovírlyvyj), легкові́рний (lehkovírnyj)
• Vietnamese: cả tin (vi)

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^[1], 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.

Anagrams

• bluegill