Word.ws English Dictionary

turning a deaf ear

turning a deaf ear is the present participle and gerund of turn a deaf ear.

Meaning of turn a deaf ear

Verb

turn a deaf ear (third-person singular simple present turns a deaf ear, present participle turning a deaf ear, simple past and past participle turned a deaf ear)

  1. (figuratively) To refuse to listen to.
    • They turned a deaf ear to her entreaties.

Questions about turning a deaf ear

What is turning a deaf ear the present participle and gerund of?
Turning a deaf ear is the present participle and gerund of turn a deaf ear.

Words near turning a deaf ear in the dictionary

  1. turnicids
  2. turnin'
  3. turning
  4. turning a blind eye
  5. turning a corner
  6. turning a deaf ear
  7. turning a hair
  8. turning a number of shades of red
  9. turning a page
  10. turning a phrase
  11. turning a profit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: turning a deaf ear (page history and authors); turn a deaf ear (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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Cite this entry: “turning a deaf ear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/turning_a_deaf_ear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.