turn a deaf ear to someone Definition

deaf
adj

1. Unable to hear at all or unable to hear well.
2. Not willing to listen to (advice, appeals, criticism, etc).

Thesaurus: oblivious, heedless, indifferent, unmoved, stubborn, obstinate; Antonym: concerned.
Form: deaf to something (usually)
3. Deaf people in general (see the 4b).

Form: the deaf

Derivative: deafly
adverb

Derivative: deafness
noun

Partial or total loss of hearing in one or both ears.

Idiom: turn a deaf ear to someone or something

To ignore or refuse to pay any attention to them.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon.

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ear¹
noun

1. The sense organ, usually one of a pair situated on each side of the head, that is concerned with hearing and the maintenance of balance in vertebrates.
2. The external part of the ear.
3. The sense or power of hearing.

Thesaurus: appreciation, regard, discrimination, sensitivity, taste.
4. The ability to hear and appreciate the difference between sounds.

Example: an ear for music
5. Anything like an ear in shape or position.
6. formal or literary
Attention; the act of listening.
Example: give ear to me

Derivative: eared
adj

Note: usually in compounds

Derivative: earless
adj

Idiom: be all ears

colloq
To listen attentively or with great interest.

Idiom: fall on deaf ears

Said of a remark, etc: to be ignored.

Idiom: give someone a thick ear

To slap them on their ear, especially as a punishment.

Idiom: have one's ear to the ground (keep one's ear to the ground)

To keep oneself well informed about what is happening around one.

Idiom: have someone's ear

To have them willing to listen or pay attention.

Idiom: in one ear and out the other (in at one ear and out at the other)

colloq
Listened to but immediately disregarded.

Idiom: lend an ear to someone or something

To listen.
Thesaurus: listen, give attention, heed, take notice.

Idiom: make someone's ears burn

To talk, especially unpleasantly, about them in their absence.

Idiom: out on one's ear

colloq
Dismissed swiftly and without politeness.

Idiom: pin back one's ears

colloq
To listen attentively.

Idiom: play by ear (play something by ear)

To play (music) without the help of printed music.

Idiom: play it by ear

colloq
To act without a fixed plan, according to the situation that arises.
Thesaurus: improvise, concoct, ad-lib.

Idiom: turn a deaf ear to someone or something

To refuse to listen.

Idiom: up to one's ears in something

colloq
Deeply involved in it or occupied with it.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon eare.