Deaf or death?
deaf is an adjective meaning “Unable (or partially able) to hear”; death is a noun meaning “The cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism's…”. Use deaf as an adjective and death as a noun. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) death is about 26 times as common as deaf.
What is the difference between deaf and death?
| deaf | death | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | Unable (or partially able) to hear Unwilling to listen or be persuaded; determinedly inattentive Of or relating to the culture surrounding deaf users of sign languages | The cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism's existence as an entity independent from its environment and its return to an… Execution (in the judicial sense) |
| Example | My brother has been deaf since sustaining injuries in the war | My grandfather died/met a violent death, which saddened the whole family |
| Forms | deafer, deafest | deaths |
| Pronunciation | /dɛf/ /diːf/ /dɛːf/ | /dɛθ/ [dɛθ] /diːθ/ |
| In writing | 9.8 times per million words | 251 times per million words |
Sources: deaf and death in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of deaf and death
deaf
- 1
Unable (or partially able) to hear
My brother has been deaf since sustaining injuries in the war
- 2
Of or relating to the culture surrounding deaf users of sign languages
- 3
Unwilling to listen or be persuaded; determinedly inattentive
Those people are deaf to reason
- 4
Of or relating to the community of deaf people
death
- 1
The cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism's existence as an entity independent from its environment and its return to an inert, non-living state
My grandfather died/met a violent death, which saddened the whole family
- 2
Execution (in the judicial sense)
The serial killer was sentenced to death
- 3
The personification of death as a (usually male) hooded figure with a scythe; the Grim Reaper
When death walked in, a chill spread through the room
- 4
The collapse or end of something
England scored a goal at the death to even the score at one all
- 5
A cause of great stress, exhaustion, embarrassment, or another negative condition (for someone)
This bake sale is going to be the death of me!
- 6
Spiritual lifelessness
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, deaf or death?
deaf appears 9.8 times per million words; death 251 times per million words.
deaf 9.8 times per million wordsdeath 251 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).