deaf as a doorpost
Cannot hear anything
Completely unable to hear, or refusing to listen.
The comparison to a doorpost—an inanimate object incapable of hearing anything—emphasizes total deafness, whether literal or figurative: I've told him three times but he's deaf as a doorpost.
The phrase is informal and somewhat old-fashioned.
- unhearingNot perceiving sound
- obliviousLacking any awareness
- dead as a doornailUtterly and certainly lifeless
- blind as a batExtremely poor-sighted
- thick as a brickHopelessly slow mentally
unreceptive · indifferent · selective hearing · mute · inattentive · unaware · dull as dishwater · hearing aid · hearing loss · nonresponsive · sign language · ignorant · ear infection · insensate · apathetic · willfully ignorant · audiology · slower than molasses
deaf as a doorpostall ears
Fully attentive to speech
alert · receptive · tuned in · perceptive · responsive
deaf, deafen, deafened, deafening, deafness, door, doors, doored, doorway