English Reference
Idiom idiom

are you deaf


A rhetorical question asked to confront a nondeaf interlocutor who has failed to hear something.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

I called you twice, are you deaf?

CONTEXTUAL

I have asked you to clean your room three times already, are you deaf?

COMPLEX

After he ignored her repeated warnings about the rising water, she finally shouted in frustration, are you deaf?


Related idioms2entries
  1. 01

    preach to deaf ears

    To attempt to persuade a party that does not wish to listen or cannot be altered in its conviction.

  2. 02

    stone deaf

    Utterly deaf.

Last updated August 10, 2026