deaf ear
Ignoring someone's plea
To turn a deaf ear is to refuse to listen or respond to something: She turned a deaf ear to their complaints.
The phrase suggests deliberate inattention rather than inability to hear.
Something that falls on deaf ears goes unheeded: His warnings fell on deaf ears.
A deaf ear by itself is simply an ear that cannot hear.
- ignoreRefuse to notice
- turn a blind eyeDeliberately ignore something obvious
- dismissSend away or reject
- unhearingNot perceiving sound
- stubbornRefusing to change course
willful ignorance · indifferent · cold shoulder · brush off · shut out · tune out · not listening · obstinate · silence · refusal · disregard · snub · blank stare · unresponsive · plea · warning · rebuff · stone
- Ear Conditionsatresia, attached earlobes, perforated eardrum, otitis, mastoiditis
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- body idiomsheart of gold, heart of stone, cold heart, warm heart, soft heart
- abandonmentabandon, abandoned, forsake, desert, leave
- inattentiondistracted, spacing, absent-minded, distraction, obliviousness
- insensitivitycallousness, cold-heartedness, hard-heartedness, heartlessness, inconsideration
deaf earlistening ear
Person who attentively receives
open mind · rapt attention · receptiveness · all ears · openness
deaf earopen heart
Emotional receptiveness, unguarded
compassion · empathy · sensitivity · receptiveness · warm reception
deaf earrapt attention
full attention · active listening · close attention · undivided attention · keen interest
deaf, ear, deafen, deafened, deafening, deafness, ears, eared, earless