blind
Americanadjective
-
unable to see; having severely impaired or absolutely no sense of sight; sightless.
a blind man.
- Antonyms:
- seeing
-
unwilling or unable to perceive or understand: He was blind to all arguments.
They were blind to their children's faults.
He was blind to all arguments.
- Antonyms:
- receptive
-
not characterized or determined by reason or control: blind chance.
blind tenacity;
blind chance.
-
not having or based on reason or intelligence; absolute and unquestioning.
She had blind faith in his fidelity.
- Synonyms:
- unreasoning , thoughtless , rash , uncritical , irrational
-
lacking all consciousness or awareness.
a blind stupor.
-
hard to see or understand.
blind reasoning.
-
hidden from immediate view, especially from oncoming motorists.
a blind corner.
-
of concealed or undisclosed identity; sponsored anonymously.
a blind ad signed only with a box number.
-
having no outlets; closed at one end: a blind mountain pass.
a blind passage;
a blind mountain pass.
-
Architecture. (of an archway, arcade, etc.) having no windows, passageways, or the like.
-
dense enough to form a screen.
a blind hedge of privet.
-
done without seeing; by instruments alone.
blind flying.
-
made without some prior knowledge: a blind lead in a card game.
a blind purchase;
a blind lead in a card game.
-
of or relating to an experimental design that prevents investigators or subjects from knowing the hypotheses or conditions being tested.
-
of, relating to, or for blind persons.
-
Bookbinding. (of a design, title, or the like) impressed into the cover or spine of a book by a die without ink or foil.
-
Cooking. (of pastry shells) baked or fried without the filling.
-
(of a rivet or other fastener) made so that the end inserted, though inaccessible, can be headed or spread.
verb (used with object)
-
to make sightless permanently, temporarily, or momentarily, as by injuring, dazzling, bandaging the eyes, etc..
The explosion blinded him.
We were blinded by the bright lights.
-
to make obscure or dark.
The room was blinded by heavy curtains.
-
to deprive of discernment, reason, or judgment.
a resentment that blinds his good sense.
-
to outshine; eclipse.
a radiance that doth blind the sun.
noun
-
something that obstructs vision, as a blinker for a horse.
-
a window covering having horizontal or vertical slats that can be drawn out of the way, often with the angle of the slats adjustable to admit varying amounts of light.
-
Chiefly Midland U.S. and British. window shade.
-
a lightly built structure of brush or other growths, especially one in which hunters conceal themselves.
a duck blind.
- Synonyms:
- ambush
-
an activity, organization, or the like for concealing or masking action or purpose; subterfuge.
The store was just a blind for their gambling operation.
-
a decoy.
-
Slang. a bout of excessive drinking; drunken spree.
-
Poker. a compulsory bet made without prior knowledge of one's hand.
-
(used with a plural verb) Usually the blind persons who lack the sense of sight.
The blind are said to have an acute sense of hearing.
adverb
-
into a stupor; to the degree at which consciousness is lost.
He drank himself blind.
-
without the ability to see clearly; lacking visibility; blindly.
They were driving blind through the snowstorm.
-
without guidance or forethought.
They were working blind and couldn't anticipate the effects of their actions.
-
to an extreme or absolute degree; completely.
The confidence men cheated her blind.
idioms
adjective
-
-
unable to see; sightless
-
( as collective noun ; preceded by the )
the blind
-
-
(usually foll by to) unable or unwilling to understand or discern
-
not based on evidence or determined by reason
blind hatred
-
acting or performed without control or preparation
-
done without being able to see, relying on instruments for information
-
hidden from sight
a blind corner
a blind stitch
-
closed at one end
a blind alley
-
completely lacking awareness or consciousness
a blind stupor
-
informal very drunk
-
having no openings or outlets
a blind wall
-
without having been seen beforehand
a blind purchase
-
(of cultivated plants) having failed to produce flowers or fruits
-
(intensifier)
not a blind bit of notice
-
to disregard deliberately or pretend not to notice (something, esp an action of which one disapproves)
adverb
-
without being able to see ahead or using only instruments
to drive blind
flying blind
-
without adequate knowledge or information; carelessly
to buy a house blind
-
(intensifier) (in the phrase blind drunk )
-
to bake (the empty crust of a pie, pastry, etc) by half filling with dried peas, crusts of bread, etc, to keep it in shape
verb
-
to deprive of sight permanently or temporarily
-
to deprive of good sense, reason, or judgment
-
to darken; conceal
-
(foll by with) to overwhelm by showing detailed knowledge
to blind somebody with science
-
slang (intr) to drive very fast
-
slang (intr) to curse (esp in the phrase effing and blinding )
noun
-
(modifier) for or intended to help blind and partially sighted people
a blind school
-
a shade for a window, usually on a roller
-
any obstruction or hindrance to sight, light, or air
-
a person, action, or thing that serves to deceive or conceal the truth
-
a person who acts on behalf of someone who does not wish his identity or actions to be known
-
Also called: blinder. old-fashioned a drunken orgy; binge
-
poker a stake put up by a player before he examines his cards
-
Brit name: hide. hunting a screen of brush or undergrowth, in which hunters hide to shoot their quarry
-
military a round or demolition charge that fails to explode
Usage
What does blind mean? Blind is most commonly used to describe a person who is unable to see. It can describe someone who has severe vision impairment or no vision at all. Some people who cannot see may prefer to be described or referred to with terms other than blind. As with all forms of disabilities, it is always best to use the language that the person prefers. The term the blind is sometimes used to collectively refer to people who are blind, such as in the names of organizations like the National Federation of the Blind. However, some people object to such collective uses, which are sometimes thought to prevent people from being viewed as individuals (in contrast with person-first language, such as people who are blind). Blind is sometimes used in figurative ways, especially as an adjective meaning unable or unwilling to accept or perceive something, as in Don’t be blind to the risks. It is also sometimes used to describe something that is not based on logic, as in blind faith. Such figurative uses can be considered a form of ableism due to likening negative characteristics to a physical disability. As a verb, blind can be used in a literal way meaning to temporarily or permanently take away someone’s ability to see, as in I was blinded by the sun or The accident blinded him. As a noun, blind can refer to a number of objects that obstruct vision or light in some way, most commonly window coverings that can be closed to darken a room (typically referred to with the plural form blinds). Example: As a blind person, I want people to remember that just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I’m incapable of living a full life.
Related Words
Blind, stone-blind, purblind mean unable to see. Blind means unable to see with the physical eyes. Stone-blind emphasizes complete blindness. Purblind refers to weakened vision, literally or figuratively. See curtain.
Regionalisms
See window shade.
Other Word Forms
- blindingly adverb
- blindly adverb
- blindness noun
- half-blind adjective
- half-blindly adverb
- self-blinded adjective
Etymology
Origin of blind
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English adjective cognate with Gothic blinds, Old Norse blindr, German, Dutch blind (from Germanic blindaz, perhaps akin to blend; original sense uncertain, perhaps “to make cloudy”); verb derivative of the adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Feeling too much for someone can blind us to reality,” she argued.
From Salon
The blinding brilliance of his plays left theatergoers still squinting to see whether his work had much of a heart.
From Los Angeles Times
For all of her good, natural sense, motherhood gives Agnes a glaring blind spot.
From Salon
The color scheme glides from monochrome in the morning to various shades of blue in the afternoon, a backdrop to blindingly white icebergs, their seawashed cavities a bright turquoise.
He spearheaded action to polish the market’s tarnished image, including fines for managers who turned a blind eye to abuses and new codes of conduct.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
