Meanings
plural deafnesses
- countableuncountableThe condition of being deaf; the lack or loss of the ability to hear.
Paul wet his lips with his tongue, read: “ ‘Think you of I the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us? What is there around us that we cannot—’ ”
1965 October 1, Frank Herbert, “Book I: Dune”, in Dune, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Book Company; [Toronto], Ont.: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 40 - countablefigurativelyuncountableLack of knowledge or refusal to admit a particular problem, issue, etc.
their deafness to her cries
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishdeefnesse
- Englishdeafness
From Middle English deefnesse; equivalent to deaf + -ness.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κωφότης
- κωφότης (kōphótēs)condition of being deaf
Arabic صَمَم
- صَمَم (ṣamam)condition of being deaf
Bulgarian глухота́
- глухота́ (gluhotá)condition of being deaf
Catalan sordesa
- sordesacondition of being deaf
Chinese Mandarin 聾 /聋
- 聾 /聋 (lóng)condition of being deaf
Czech hluchota
- hluchotacondition of being deaf
Danish døvhed
- døvhedcondition of being deaf
Dutch doofheid
- doofheidcondition of being deaf
Esperanto surdeco
- surdecocondition of being deaf
Estonian kurtus
- kurtuscondition of being deaf
Finnish kuurous
- kuurouscondition of being deaf
French surdité
- surditécondition of being deaf
German Taubheit, Gehörlosigkeit
- Taubheitcondition of being deaf
- Gehörlosigkeitcondition of being deaf
- Schwerhörigkeitcondition of being deaf
- Surditascondition of being deaf
Greek κώφωση, κωφότητα
- κώφωση (kófosi)condition of being deaf
- κωφότητα (kofótita)condition of being deaf
Hebrew חירשות
- חירשות (khershut)condition of being deaf
Hindi बहरापन, बधिरता
- बहरापन (bahrāpan)condition of being deaf
- बधिरता (badhirtā)condition of being deaf
Irish bodhaire
- bodhairecondition of being deaf
Italian sordità
- sorditàcondition of being deaf
Japanese 難聴
- 難聴 (nanchō)condition of being deaf
Latin surditās
- surditāscondition of being deaf
Latvian kurlums
- kurlumscondition of being deaf
Malay kepekakan, ketulian
- kepekakancondition of being deaf
- ketuliancondition of being deaf
Norwegian Bokmål døvhet
- døvhetcondition of being deaf
Persian ناشنوایی
- ناشنوایی (nâšenavâyi)condition of being deaf
Polish głuchota
- głuchotacondition of being deaf
Portuguese surdez
- surdezcondition of being deaf
Russian глухота́
- глухота́ (gluxotá)condition of being deaf
Scottish Gaelic buidhre
- buidhrecondition of being deaf
Slovak hluchota
- hluchotacondition of being deaf
Spanish sordera
- sorderacondition of being deaf
Swahili ulemavu wa kusikia
- ulemavu wa kusikiacondition of being deaf
Swedish dövhet
- dövhetcondition of being deaf
Tamil செவிடு
- செவிடு (ceviṭu)condition of being deaf
Turkish sağırlık
- sağırlıkcondition of being deaf
Ukrainian глухота́, глу́хість
- глухота́ (hluxotá)condition of being deaf
- глу́хість (hlúxistʹ)condition of being deaf
Cite this entry
deafness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deafness
“deafness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deafness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deafness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deafness.
Source: deafness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.