Deaf or def?
deaf is an adjective meaning “Unable (or partially able) to hear”; def is an adjective meaning “Excellent; very good”. They sound the same (/dɛf/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) deaf is about as common as def.
What is the difference between deaf and def?
| deaf | def | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, verb | noun, adverb, adjective |
| 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 | |
| Example | My brother has been deaf since sustaining injuries in the war | i can def sneak out tn. where should i meet u? |
| Forms | deafer, deafest | deffer, deffest |
| Pronunciation | /dɛf/ /diːf/ /dɛːf/ | /dɛf/ |
| In writing | 9.8 times per million words | 8.1 times per million words |
Sources: deaf and def 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 def
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
def
- 1
Abbreviation of definition
- 2
slangClipping of definitely
i can def sneak out tn. where should i meet u?
- 3
slangExcellent; very good
- 4
Abbreviation of definition
- 5
Abbreviation of defense
- 6
Abbreviation of diesel exhaust fluid
- 7
Abbreviation of deficit
- 8
Initialism of defence point
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 def?
deaf appears 9.8 times per million words; def 8.1 times per million words.
deaf 9.8 times per million wordsdef 8.1 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search deaf vs def?
“deaf vs def” is searched about 10 times a month on Bing (Google reports it together with close variants, so it has no figure of its own) in the United States.
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.