in one ear and out the other

Idioms

Quickly forgotten, as in Their advice to her just went in one ear and out the other. This expression, a proverb in John Heywood's 1546 collection, conjures up a graphic image of sound traveling through one's head. [Late 1300s]

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.

Shreya says she "refuses to process" the comparisons, saying they go "in one ear and out the other".

From BBC

“With some guys it would go in one ear and out the other. I’d tell guys, `Make sure to take your playbook home and study.’

From Los Angeles Times

It goes in one ear and out the other.

From Slate

Not looking, on the computers, going in one ear and out the other or talking to each other or multitasking or whatever.

From Salon

“You think that everything just went in one ear and out the other,” the mother said.

From Washington Post

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023