deafness
The condition of being deaf; the lack or loss of the ability to hear.
Other meanings
Lack of knowledge or refusal to admit a particular problem, issue, etc.
“their deafness to her cries”
Synonyms
- hearing loss
Related words
- cocktail party deafness
- peri-lingual deafness
- post-lingual deafness
- word-deafness
- stress deafness
- inattentional deafness
- tone-deafness
- albinism-deafness syndrome
Word history
From Middle English "deefnesse".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “deafness” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.