deaf
English · Thesaurus
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deaf¹
- /dɛf/
- /diːf/ England, US, archaic
- /dɛːf/ Early Modern
Sounds like Deaf, def, death (th-fronting) · Rhymes with -ɛf
Where it comes from
From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub (“deaf”), from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (“deaf or stunned”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf.
Cognate with Dutch doof, German taub, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål døv, Norwegian Nynorsk dauv, Swedish döv, Faroese deyvur, Icelandic daufur.
adjective deafer · deafest
- Unable (or partially able) to hear. My brother has been deaf since sustaining injuries in the war.
- Unwilling to listen or be persuaded; determinedly inattentive. Those people are deaf to reason.
- Of or relating to the community of deaf people. The best place to fight Hollywood deafism is in our deaf schools. If we give our children understanding and appreciation of our rich culture and sign language, the students will gain a deaf heritage and become more creative, more aware, and more assertive global deaf citizens.
- Obscurely heard; stifled; deadened. A deaf murmur through the squadron went.
- Decayed; tasteless; useless. a deaf nut; deaf corn
Similar: hard of hearing, hearing-impaired
noun deafs
- A deaf person. Among the second group of philanthropic educational institutions the institutes for the deafs and dumbs must be mentioned.
verb deafs · deafing · deafed
- To deafen. It is enough, my hearing shall be punish'd With what shall happen, -- 'gainst the which there is No deafing -- but to hear, not taint mine eye With dread sights that it may shun.
Deaf²
- /dɛf/
Sounds like deaf, def · Rhymes with -ɛf
Where it comes from
From deaf.
adjective
- Of or relating to the culture surrounding deaf users of sign languages. Today, sign languages are the means of communication and interaction in Deaf communities around the world and have been shown to contain all the linguistic complexities and potentials of spoken languages (Stokoe, 1960/2005).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: stone-deaf, hearing-impaired, deaf-mute, deafen, tone-deaf, inattentive, thoughtless, heedless, indifferent, unheeding, unhearing, unlistening, deaf-and-dumb, deaf to, deafened, hard-of-hearing
adjective
Similar: hard of hearing, hearing-impaired
Translations
Every language
adj unable to hear
| Español | sordo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 귀먹다 gwimeokda |
| 日本語 | 耳の聞こえない mimi no kikoenai, 耳が不自由 mimi ga fujiyuu |
| 中文 | 聾 /聋 lóng, 耳聾 /耳聋 ěrlóng |
| हिन्दी | बहरा bahrā, बधिर badhir |
| Português | surdo, mouco |
| Français | sourd |
| Deutsch | taub, gehörlos |
| Italiano | sordo |
| Ελληνικά | κωφός kofós, κουφός koufós |
| Română | surd |
| Русский | глухо́й gluxój |
| Tiếng Việt | điếc |
| العربية | أَصَمّ ʔaṣamm, أَطْرَش ʔaṭraš |
| עברית | חֵירֵשׁ kheresh |
adj unable to hear, used as a substantive: deaf people considered as a group
| Español | sordos, sordas |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 농인 nong'in |
| 日本語 | 聾 tsumbo, 聾者 rōsha, 聴覚障害者 chōkaku-shōgaisha |
| Kiswahili | viziwi |
| Português | surdos |
| Français | les sourds |
| Deutsch | die Gehörlosen, die Tauben |
| Italiano | i sordi, i non udenti |
| Ελληνικά | κωφός kofós |
| Русский | глухие gluxije |
| العربية | اَلصُّمّ aṣ-ṣumm |
| עברית | חירשים kher'shím |
adj relating to the culture of deaf signers
| 日本語 | ろう rō |
|---|
Talk about this word "deaf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/deaf. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. deaf. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/deaf "deaf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/deaf.Cite this
@misc{deaf_2026,
title = {deaf},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/deaf},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
