It's Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for October 12th.

Today's word is gullible, spelled G-U-L-L-I-B-L-E, gullible is an adjective.

Someone described as gullible is easily fooled or cheated.

In other words, they are quick to believe something that is not true.

Here's the word used in a sentence from Observer.com.

It's true that reality television has grown to look more and more like the Truman Show in the quarter century following the film's release.

But even more unnerving, so have we as viewers.

In 1998, the movie's premise provoked dread.

Now, though, we find easy humor and comfort in watching shows like it,

and seeing a kind but gullible person bumble their way through a fake reality designed to strain credulity.

The classic, oft-repeated seaside maxim reminding people to guard against being gullible goes like this.

Let a gull steal my fries once, shame on the gull.

Let a gull steal my fries twice, shame on me.

Okay, that's not really how the old saw goes, but on the off-chance that you believed our little trick, you yourself were, however briefly, gullible.

That is, easily duped.

The adjective gullible grew out of the older verb gull, meaning to deceive or take advantage of.

That gull originally meant to guzzle or gulp greedily, and comes from an even older gull, meaning throat or gullet.

Another relative is the noun gull, referring to a person who is easy to cheat.

However, no matter how much the seabirds we call gulls love to pill for our potatoes, that avian gull has no relation, and is instead of Celtic origin.

We promise.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Succo-Losky.

Visit marionwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.

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