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.

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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

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of hard of hearing

First recorded in 1555–65

Example Sentences

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

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

Those who met with Dettelbach included members of Maine’s close-knit community of deaf and hard of hearing people, which lost four people in the Oct.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2024

Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan