preaching to deaf ears
Ignored urgent advice
Preaching to deaf ears describes attempting to persuade or advise someone who refuses to listen or cannot be convinced.
The phrase emphasizes futility—the message may be sound, but the audience is unreceptive: I warned him about the risks, but I was preaching to deaf ears.
Also appears as *falling on deaf ears*, which emphasizes the message rather than the speaker.
- stonewallingDeliberately refusing to respond
- stubbornnessRefusal to yield
- exasperationIntense weary annoyance
- misunderstandingFailure to grasp meaning
- spinning wheelsFiber-twisting textile devices
beating a dead horse · closed-mindedness · apathy · disappointment · willful ignorance · willful blindness · indifference · inattentiveness · in one ear out the other · lost in translation · uphill battle · disengagement · tuning out · miscommunication · resignation · distraction · helplessness · irritation
preaching to deaf earsbreaking through
Forcing past an obstruction
moving the needle · getting results · making headway · sinking in · taking hold
preach, preacher, preachers, preaches, preached, deafen, deafened, deafening, deafness