Word.ws English Dictionary

preaches to deaf ears

preaches to deaf ears is the third-person singular simple present indicative of preach to deaf ears.

Meaning of preach to deaf ears

Verb

preach to deaf ears (third-person singular simple present preaches to deaf ears, present participle preaching to deaf ears, simple past and past participle preached to deaf ears)

  1. (idiomatic) To attempt to persuade a party that does not wish to listen or cannot be altered in its conviction.
    • Roosevelt was tired of preaching to deaf ears. He was ready to try something else.2002, Edward M. Bennet, Separated by a Common Language: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Anglo-American Relations, 1933-1939, Writers Club Press, →ISBN, page 126

Questions about preaches to deaf ears

What is preaches to deaf ears the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Preaches to deaf ears is the third-person singular simple present indicative of preach to deaf ears.

Words near preaches to deaf ears in the dictionary

  1. preachership
  2. preacherships
  3. preaches
  4. preaches down
  5. preaches in the desert
  6. preaches to deaf ears
  7. preaches to the choir
  8. preaches to the congregation
  9. preaches to the converted
  10. preaches up
  11. preaches water and drinks wine

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preaches to deaf ears (page history and authors); preach to deaf ears (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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