04.17.2019 - By Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 17, 2019 is: gullible \GULL-uh-bul\ adjective
: easily duped or cheated
Examples:
"I'm not so gullible as to think I really won this cash sweepstakes," said Aunt Mary, though she went ahead and opened the envelope that told her she had won, just in case it wasn't a scam.
"The conclusion that some people are more gullible than others is the understanding in popular culture—but in the scientific world it's pitted against another widely believed [paradigm](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paradigm), shaped by several counterintuitive studies that indicate we're all equally biased, irrational and likely to fall for propaganda, sales pitches and general nonsense." — Faye Flam, The Chicago Tribune, 4 Jan. 2019
Did you know?
Don't fall for anyone who tries to convince you that gullible isn't entered in the dictionary. It's right [there](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gullible), along with the run-on entries gullibility and gullibly. All three words descend from the verb [gull](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gull#h2), meaning "to deceive or take advantage of." The verb was borrowed into English from Anglo-French in the mid-16th century. Another relative is the noun [gull](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gull#h3), referring to a person who is easy to cheat—a word which is unrelated to the familiar [word](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gull) for a seabird, which is of Celtic origin.