deaf-and-dumb
Americanadjective
adjective
noun
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Using deaf-and-dumb to refer to people without speech is considered outdated and offensive, and should be avoided.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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A man with a shattered jaw was making signs, deliberately talking in the deaf-and-dumb alphabet, which perhaps he had learned for some friend or relative's sake.
From The Long Roll by Mary Johnston
The Marchioness fairly hopped up and down with delight when she saw the familiar symbols of the deaf-and-dumb alphabet, and immediately set her own small white hands to work on her first sentence: "Go slow."
From Flamsted quarries by G. Patrick Nelson
"I think I ought to tell you, young ladies," he said nervously, "that I am very well acquainted with the deaf-and-dumb alphabet, having taught the subject for several years at an institution for deaf-mutes."
From The Third Class at Miss Kaye's A School Story by Angela Brazil
You knew he was not deaf, while we wrote our messages to him and I have been learning the deaf-and-dumb alphabet!
From The Last Shot by Frederick Palmer
It occurred to Sawed-Off, however, that before they sent back an indignant refusal to play, they might as well look up the record of the deaf-and-dumb basket-ball men.
From The Dozen from Lakerim by Rupert Hughes
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.
