deaf-and-dumb

American  

[def-uhn-duhm] / ˈdɛf ənˈdʌm /

adjective

Offensive.

1. deaf-mute.

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deaf-and-dumb British  

adjective

1. unable to hear or speak

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noun

1. a deaf person without speech

Sensitive Note

See dumb.

Usage

Using deaf-and-dumb to refer to people without speech is considered outdated and offensive, and should be avoided. The phrase profoundly deaf is a suitable alternative in many contexts

Etymology

Origin of deaf-and-dumb

1150–1200; Middle English def and doumb

Example Sentences

Users would love to pick and choose individual shows and have them delivered through applications rather than through deaf-and-dumb multicast streams.

From The Guardian

The milkman told Jimmy that he had met the deaf-and-dumb woman that morning.

From Project Gutenberg

It has been asserted that if 'Hamlet,' for example, were to be performed in a deaf-and-dumb asylum, the inmates would be able to understand it and to enjoy it.

From Project Gutenberg

So Bonny was allowed to engage the deaf-and-dumb teamster by signs, and the two Indians by a few words of Chinook, without hinderance.

From Project Gutenberg

In civil life this officer, a colonel of volunteers, had been an aurist of some note and the physician in attendance in a deaf-and-dumb asylum.

From Project Gutenberg