deaf

CEFRB1

/dɛf/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Unable to hear, or unable to hear well.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Of or relating to the community of deaf people.

Examples

  • Helen Keller was blind, deaf and dumb.

  • It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /diːf/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Unwilling to listen or be persuaded; determinedly inattentive.

  2. Unable (or partially able) to hear.

  3. Obscurely heard; stifled; deadened.

More examples

In context

  • There are none so deaf as those who won't hear.

  • It's important for TV shows to provide closed captioning for the deaf.

  • My brother has been deaf since sustaining injuries in the war.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The old man, who was completely blank, communicated using sign language.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, 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.