deaf as a post

Idioms  

1. Also, deaf as an adder. Unable to hear or to listen, as in Speak louder, Grandpa's deaf as a post. The first simile has its origin in John Palsgrave's Acolastus (1540): “How deaf an ear I intended to give him ... he were as good to tell his tale to a post.” It has largely replaced deaf as an adder, alluding to an ancient belief that adders cannot hear; it is recorded in the Bible (Psalms 58:3–5).

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Example Sentences

Father has a friend, a man in his mid-seventies named Mr. Dreher, who’s sick, poor and deaf as a post.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

You'll like Aunt Jane, she's as deaf as a post and very bloodthirsty—and then you can begin the course afterwards.

From Mufti by McNeile, H. C. (Herman Cyril)

Here——the Nine are as deaf as a post, and as cold as a stone!

From The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 3, February, 1851 by Various

"Nonsense!" laughs his host; "Mrs. Gray is my housekeeper, and she is deaf as a post."

From The Diamond Coterie by Lynch, Lawrence L.

It was fortunate for him that Mrs. Wire was as "deaf as a post," or his suddenly matured plan to "try again" might have been a failure.

From Try Again or, the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West. A Story for Young Folks by Optic, Oliver