selective hearing
Filtering what's inconvenient
Selective hearing is the tendency to hear only what one wants to hear, filtering out inconvenient information.
The phrase usually carries an accusation—that someone is deliberately ignoring requests or criticism while remaining attentive to topics that interest them: My husband has selective hearing when it comes to taking out the trash.
It suggests willful rather than genuine hearing loss.
- ignoringDeliberately not noticing
- tuning outDeliberately not hearing
- deaf earRefusal to listen
- convenientEasy to use
- obliviousLacking any awareness
tune it out · in one ear · not listening · distracted · inattentive · filtering · zoning out · white noise · husband · teenager · la la la · nodding · pretending · half listening · listening · earbuds · spouse · nagging
- listeningactive listening, attentive, listening skills, listening comprehension, focused attention
- pet problemsaggression, barking, biting, chewing, digging
- tuning outignore, zone out, space out, block out, filter out
- self-deceptiondenial, delusion, wishful thinking, rationalization, willful blindness
- hearing illusionsbinaural beats
- Attention phrasespay attention, heads up, watch out, look out, keep an eye on
selective hearingfull attention
Total mental engagement
active listening · rapt attention · undivided attention · close attention · all ears
selective, hearing, select, selection, selector, selects, selected, selecting, selectively