hard of hearing

American  

[hahrd-uhv-heer-ing] / ˈhɑrd əvˈhɪər ɪŋ /

Or hard-of-hearing

adjective

1. having reduced or deficient hearing ability; having mild, moderate, or severe hearing loss.

   We provide amplified phones for those who are hard of hearing so that they can communicate with friends and family.

---

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. people who have reduced or deficient hearing ability.

   Besides being an aid for the hard of hearing, subtitles improve comprehension for viewers learning a different language.

hard of hearing British  

adjective

1. 1. deaf or partly deaf

   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      the hard of hearing

---

hard of hearing Idioms  

1. Somewhat deaf, having a partial loss of hearing. For example, You'll have to speak distinctly; Dad's a little hard of hearing. The use of hard in the sense of “difficulty in doing something” survives only in this expression. [Mid-1500s]

---

Etymology

Origin of hard of hearing

First recorded in 1555–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hard of hearing

Rosales, a single mother of three in San Antonio, earns $29,000 a year working for a company that provides assistance to the deaf and hard of hearing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

"For hard of hearing people, phone banking is challenging, and for visually impaired people, online banking can be really difficult," Miss Kinsella added.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025

He attended Marlton School, which specialized in teaching students from kindergarten through 12th grade who are deaf and hard of hearing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2025

Speech-to-text programs are becoming more popular for everyday tasks like hands-free dictation, helping people who are visually impaired, and transcribing speech for those who are hard of hearing.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2024

He's also hard of hearing, which when my mom used to say this, I always thought she was saying "harder hearing," which made no sense at all to me.

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds