What does gullable mean?
Gullable is an adjective describing a person who is easily deceived, manipulated, or tricked. It carries a mildly formal quality and is considerably less common than its close relative gullible, although the two words have essentially the same meaning. In modern usage, gullable is often used when a speaker wants to emphasize credulity or susceptibility to persuasion, especially in discussion of scams, con artists, propaganda, or misplaced trust. The adjective can stand before a noun, as in “a gullable audience,” or follow one, as in “the witnesses were gullable.” Its implication is sometimes stronger than simple inexperience: describing someone as gullable suggests that they may believe claims without adequate scrutiny. In everyday speech, gullible is usually the natural choice, while gullable can sound elevated, literary, or deliberately ironic. Both words draw on the older sense of gull meaning a person who is easily duped.
adjectiveEasily deceived or tricked; credulous.
- Easily deceived, credulous, or susceptible to being tricked.
"The con artist quickly identified the gullable tourists who had accepted his dubious story."
"The con artist targeted anyone who seemed gullable."
"Her gullable willingness to believe every stranger made her an easy target."
Gullable is the less-travelled cousin of gullible: both mean easy to deceive, but gullible has become the everyday default.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does gullable come from?
Gullable was formed in English by adding the suffix -able to gull, using the older sense of a person who is easily duped. Its familiar relative gullible was formed in the same way with -ible, while gullibility combines the same base with -ibility. These words belong to an English family whose development is transparent, although the precise early history of the personal sense of gull is less certain than the formation of the modern derivatives.
Related word forms
How gullable is actually used
This word is less common than gullible and tends to appear in formal or older prose. It can describe people directly or be used attributively, as in “a gullable decision.”
Easily confused with gullable
Gullible is the more common modern word for someone who is easily deceived, whereas gullable is a less frequent and generally more formal alternative.