stone-deaf

[ stohn-def ]

adjective

1. totally deaf.

stone-deaf

adjective

1. completely deaf

Usage

Use of this word to refer to people with serious hearing difficulties is potentially very offensive: preferred form: profoundly deaf

Word History and Origins

Origin of stone-deaf¹

First recorded in 1830–40; stone + deaf

Idioms and Phrases

Totally unable to hear, as in Poor Grandpa, in the last year he's become stone deaf . [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

When the tubes were being fixed into the three apertures he perceived that he had become suddenly stone deaf.

From Project Gutenberg

Gradually the horrible truth dawned upon me—I was stone deaf!

From Project Gutenberg

Are you stone deaf, that all their pretty speeches have been wasted on you?

From Project Gutenberg

When I spoke to the old woman, she told me that she was stone deaf.

From Project Gutenberg

The woman is nearly stone-deaf, and could not hear a word of the evidence.

From Project Gutenberg