deaf-and-dumb

[def-uhn-duhm]

adjective

Offensive.

1. deaf-mute.

deaf-and-dumb

adjective

1. unable to hear or speak

noun

1. a deaf person without speech

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Using deaf-and-dumb to refer to people without speech is considered outdated and offensive, and should be avoided.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

Sensitive Note

See dumb.

Word History and Origins

Origin of deaf-and-dumb¹

1150–1200; Middle English def and doumb

Example Sentences

Even if he was a deaf-and-dumb mute he understood every word she said to him.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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