cully en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈkʌli/ (UK, US)
Etymology
Uncertain. Short for cullion? Compare Irish cuallaí (“companion”)
Meanings
-
(archaic) A person who is easily tricked or imposed on; a dupe, a gullible person.
I have learned that […] I am not the first cully whom she has passed upon for a countess.
1911 March 19 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, March 9, 1910–1911”, in The Spectator, number 9; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:Yet the rich Cullies may their boaſting ſpare; / They purchaſe but ſophiſticated VVare.
1678, [John] Dryden, “Epilogue”, in Nat[haniel] Lee, Mithridates King of Pontus, a Tragedy: […], London: […] R[obert] E[veringham] for James Magnes and Rich[ard] Bentley, […], →OCLC:One [attitude] was a fascination with street-walkers and courtesans as self-confident entrepreneurs, able to outwit their simple cullies.
2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 158:
- (slang) A companion.
-
(archaic, historical) A male client of a prostitute; a john, a gonk.
The assumption tends to be the opposite: Whores constantly seek sexual encounters to fulfill their burning desires and also sometimes manage to wheedle gold out of their cullies.
2006, Laura J. Rosenthal, Infamous Commerce: Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century British Literature and Culture, Cornell University Press, page 2:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cullies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |