What does "the + adjective" mean? How come is that refer to the people?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
Here, the adjectives "gullible" and "lonely" are used as nouns with the addition of "the." You can think of the sentence as meaning "people who are gullible and lonely," which has been rephrased to be "the gullible and the lonely." You can use this grammar pattern with other adjectives, and it often appears in pair. Ex: The tired and the weary. Ex: The young and the old. Ex: The rich and the poor.