- Partially or completely lacking in the sense of hearing.
- Deaf Of or relating to the Deaf or their culture.
- Unwilling or refusing to listen; heedless: was deaf to our objections.
- Deaf people considered as a group. Used with the.
- Deaf The community of deaf people who use American Sign Language as a primary means of communication. Used with the.
[Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf.]
deafly deaf'ly adv.deafness deaf'ness n.
USAGE NOTE The rise of the Deaf Pride movement in the 1980s has introduced a distinction between deaf and Deaf, with the capitalized form used specifically in referring to deaf persons belonging to the community-also known as Deaf culture-that has formed around the use of American Sign Language as the preferred means of communication. The issue of capitalization is different with deaf than it is for a term such as black. In the case of black, the decision whether or not to capitalize is essentially a matter of personal or political preference, while with deaf the capitalized and uncapitalized forms differ in meaning as well as style. Only persons who are self-identified as belonging to Deaf culture are appropriately referred to as Deaf.
