(as) deaf as a post
Unable to hear well or at all. Potentially offensive. I hope Grandpa wears his hearing aid to dinner tonight because he's as deaf as a post without it. After years of listening to loud rock music, I'm deaf as a post.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*deaf as a post
deaf. (*Also:as ~.) When my cousin was a teenager, she played her drum set without ear protection, and she was as deaf as a post by the age of twenty-five. Mark can't hear you even if you shout; he's deaf as a post.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
deaf as a post
Also, deaf as an adder. Unable to hear or to listen, as in Speak louder, Grandpa's deaf as a post. The first simile has its origin in John Palsgrave's Acolastus (1540): "How deaf an ear I intended to give him ... he were as good to tell his tale to a post." It has largely replaced deaf as an adder, alluding to an ancient belief that adders cannot hear; it is recorded in the Bible (Psalms 58:3-5).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
deaf as a post
OLD-FASHIONEDIf someone is as deaf as a post, they are very deaf. My Dad is as deaf as a post.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
(as) deaf as a ˈpost
(informal) unable to hear anything: You’ll have to shout if you want her to hear you. She’s as deaf as a post.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
deaf as a post
Unable to hear or to listen. The simile dates from the sixteenth century, when J. Palsgrave wrote (
Acolastus, 1540), “He wotteth ful lyttel how deffe an eare I intended to gyue him . . . he were as good to tell his tale to a poste.” It caught on and has survived to the present, outliving such similes as
deaf as an adder (first recorded in the Book of Psalms, 58:4–5),
deaf as a beetle, and
deaf as a white cat. See also
fall on deaf ears;
turn a blind eye/deaf ear.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer