deaf Hear it!

deaf Definition

deaf (def)

adjective

  1. totally or partially unable to hear
  2. unwilling to hear or listen; giving no heed deaf to her pleas

Etymology: ME def < OE deaf, akin to Ger taub, Goth *daufs < IE *dheubh-, misty, obscured < base *dheu-: see dull

deaf Related Forms
deaf′ly adverb deaf′·ness noun
deaf Synonyms

deaf

modif.

  1. Not able to hear

    hard of hearing, hearing-impaired, unhearing, stone-deaf, earless, dull of hearing, unable to distinguish sound, unable to hear, deaf-mute, stunned, deafened, tone-deaf, deaf and dumb*, deaf as a post, deaf as a doorknob*, with tin ears*.

    Antonyms hearing, sharp-eared, auditory*.

  2. Not willing to hear

    unaware, stubborn, blind; see oblivious, obstinate.

deaf Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • ear: The Referee will need to learn how to balance ' turning a deaf ear ' with ' wielding a big stick ' .
  • child: All deaf children to have a positive Deaf identity.
  • pupil: Most of the deaf pupils are boarders who live a long way away.
  • people: Wales have a strong Forum now, set up in 1995 by deaf people for deaf people in their area.
  • recipient: Your sponsorship is covering all areas of his training, together with his future with our deaf recipient.
  • mute: There are 650 deaf mutes under the care of the mission, some of whom are blind as well.

Used with adjective complement

  • bear: Were they born deaf, or did they become deaf?
  • become: Were they born deaf, or did they become deaf?
  • go: And is it really true that you are going deaf?

Modifying Another Word

  • profoundly: For example, a bank should ask a profoundly deaf person what sort of communication support they prefer.
  • prelingually: Some prelingually deaf people have English as a preferred language and rely on speechreading.
  • congenitally: Recently, a very few congenitally deaf children have been implanted with an auditory brainstem implant in Europe.
  • severely: Jordan has a hearing loss Jordan wears two hearing aids and is severely deaf.
  • partially: Then, the partially deaf old fellow, with the speech defect, presumed as a result of private school sodomy.
  • totally: With the totally deaf, you're on yer own.

Preposition: in

  • ear: He/she may also be slightly deaf in the glue ear.

Preposition: from

  • birth: After all, how do people think who are completely deaf from birth and have never heard a word spoken?

Preposition: since

  • childhood: Susan Mills has been profoundly deaf since childhood, and owing to an allergy she is unable to wear hearing aids.
  • birth: He has Usher syndrome so he has been profoundly deaf since birth and his eyesight will deteriorate with time.
deaf Quotes

London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Theyare as venomous as the poison of a serpent: even like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears; Which refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer: charm he never so wisely.

—Book of Common Prayer

: Do not let him touch you! It is not true That drunken men cannot beget, And if he touch he must beget And you must bear his murderer. Deaf! Both deaf!

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

Jesus answered and said unto them,Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

—Bible (NewTestament)

When you see millions of the mouthless dead Across your dreams in pale battalions go, Say not soft things as other men have said, That you'll remember. For you need not so. Give them not praise. For, deaf, how should they know It is not curses heaped on each gashed head?

—Sorley, Charles Hamilton

And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

—Bible (NewTestament)

A cricket tour in Australia would be a most delightful period in one's life if one was deaf.

—Larwood, Harold

Megaphone diplomacy leads to a dialogue of the deaf.

—Howe, Baron

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

—Bible (Old Testament)

  What are we learning Frenchor thepianofor,Iwould like to know, if it is not to be sold to a man some day† We have to cringe, and manoeuvre, and grimace for a husbandöa husband who may be deaf orhavea hump if he is richöa husband that may attack you in delirium tremens to-day if he makes a devout act of contrition for it to-morrow.

—O'Brien,William

   Our Adonais has drunk poisonöoh! What deaf and viperous murderer could crown Life's early cup with such a draught of woe?

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe