Meanings
adjectivedeaf-mute (not comparable)
noundeaf-mute (plural deaf-mutes)
plural deaf-mutes
- offensiveA person who is unable to hear or speak.
Andrew was studying to become a teacher of deaf-mutes.
1974 April 20, “Beacon Hill Murder”, in Gay Community News, page 11 more example
This buckling was first noticed by a deaf-mute who was walking over a bridge across the line and he pointed it out to the driver of a steamroller which happened to be passing.
1959 September, K. Hoole, “The Middlesbrough-Newcastle route of the N.E.R.: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 417Synonyms: deaf person
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveUnable to hear or speak.
Similar
nounA person who is unable to hear or speak.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivelacking the sense of hearing and the ability to speak
Similar
deaf-and-dumbdeaf
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian глухоня́м
- глухоня́м (gluhonjám)unable to hear or speak
Catalan sordmut, sordmut
- sordmutunable to hear or speak
- sordmutperson who is unable to hear or speak
- sordmudaperson who is unable to hear or speak
Chinese Mandarin 聾啞 /聋哑, 聾啞者 /聋哑者
- 聾啞 /聋哑 (lóngyǎ)unable to hear or speak
- 聾啞者 /聋哑者 (lóngyǎzhě)person who is unable to hear or speak
- 聾啞人 /聋哑人 (lóngyǎrén)person who is unable to hear or speak
Czech hluchoněmý
- hluchoněmýunable to hear or speak
Danish døvstum
- døvstumunable to hear or speak
Dutch doofstom, doofstomme
- doofstomunable to hear or speak
- doofstommeperson who is unable to hear or speak
Esperanto surdmuta, surdamuta
- surdmutaunable to hear or speak
- surdamutaunable to hear or speak
- surdmutuloperson who is unable to hear or speak
- surdmutulinoperson who is unable to hear or speak
- surdamutuloperson who is unable to hear or speak
- surdamutulinoperson who is unable to hear or speak
Estonian kurttumm
- kurttummunable to hear or speak
Finnish kuuromykkä, kuuromykkä
- kuuromykkäunable to hear or speak
- kuuromykkäperson who is unable to hear or speak
French sourd-muet, sourd-muet
- sourd-muetunable to hear or speak
- sourd-muetperson who is unable to hear or speak
- sourde-muetteperson who is unable to hear or speak
German taubstumm, Taubstummer
- taubstummunable to hear or speak
- Taubstummerperson who is unable to hear or speak
- Taubstummeperson who is unable to hear or speak
Greek κωφάλαλος, κωφάλαλος
- κωφάλαλος (kofálalos)unable to hear or speak
- κωφάλαλος (kofálalos)person who is unable to hear or speak
Hebrew חירש־אילם, חירשת־אילמת
- חירש־אילם (kheresh-ylem)person who is unable to hear or speak
- חירשת־אילמת (khereshet-ylemet)person who is unable to hear or speak
Hindi मूक बधिर
- मूक बधिर (mūk badhir)unable to hear or speak
Hungarian süketnéma, siketnéma
- süketnémaunable to hear or speak
- siketnémaunable to hear or speak
Italian sordomuto, sordomuto
- sordomutounable to hear or speak
- sordomutoperson who is unable to hear or speak
- sordomutaperson who is unable to hear or speak
Japanese 聾唖の
- 聾唖の (rōa no)unable to hear or speak
Norwegian Bokmål døvstumme
- døvstummeunable to hear or speak
Polish głuchoniemy, głuchoniemy
- głuchoniemyunable to hear or speak
- głuchoniemyperson who is unable to hear or speak
- głuchoniemaperson who is unable to hear or speak
- osoba głuchoniemaperson who is unable to hear or speak
Portuguese surdo-mudo, surdo-mudo
- surdo-mudounable to hear or speak
- surdo-mudoperson who is unable to hear or speak
- surda-mudaperson who is unable to hear or speak
Romanian surdo-mut, surdo-mut
- surdo-mutunable to hear or speak
- surdo-mutperson who is unable to hear or speak
Russian глухонемо́й, глухонемо́й
- глухонемо́й (gluxonemój)unable to hear or speak
- глухонемо́й (gluxonemój)person who is unable to hear or speak
- глухонема́я (gluxonemája)person who is unable to hear or speak
Slovak hluchonemý
- hluchonemýunable to hear or speak
Spanish sordomudo, sordomudo
- sordomudounable to hear or speak
- sordomudoperson who is unable to hear or speak
- sordomudaperson who is unable to hear or speak
Swedish dövstum, dövstum
- dövstumunable to hear or speak
- dövstumperson who is unable to hear or speak
Tagalog pipi at bingi, pipi at bingi
- pipi at bingiunable to hear or speak
- pipi at bingiperson who is unable to hear or speak
Turkish sağır dilsiz, sağır dilsiz
- sağır dilsizunable to hear or speak
- sağır dilsizperson who is unable to hear or speak
Ukrainian глухоніми́й
- глухоніми́й (hluxonimýj)unable to hear or speak
Vietnamese câm điếc, người câm điếc
- câm điếcunable to hear or speak
- người câm điếcperson who is unable to hear or speak
Cite this entry
APA
deaf-mute. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deaf-mute
MLA
“deaf-mute.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deaf-mute. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deaf-mute,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deaf-mute.
Source: deaf-mute on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.