hard of hearing

adjective

: relating to or having partial hearing loss

people who are hard of hearing

the deaf and hard of hearing community

… the task force … will ask the Nebraska Department of Education to hire a national consulting firm with expertise in the area of deaf and hard of hearing education to analyze Nebraska's system.

—Margaret Reist

Examples of hard of hearing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

With a film that attracts deaf and hard of hearing audiences, O’Daniel and Davis focused on captions that would make the film more immersive and easier to follow. —Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 4 Mar. 2025

Accessibility and Sustainability Three Premier City View rooms are outfitted with accessibility features (such as roll-in showers and visual alarms) for people who are hard of hearing, and two premium city views are able to accommodate wheelchair users and/or those who are hard of hearing. —Mariette Williams, Travel + Leisure, 18 Jan. 2025

He’s known about the popularity of hockey within the Deaf and hard of hearing communities for years. —Scott Powers, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024

That said, Delaney also understood the limitations for the deaf and hard of hearing to become hockey fans. —Scott Powers, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1564, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hard of hearing

• commandeering
• disappearing
• domineering
• engineering
• interfering
• overhearing
• persevering
• pioneering
• privateering
• profiteering
• racketeering
• reappearing

Kids Definition

hard-of-hearing

adjective

ˌhärd-ə(v)-ˈhi(ə)r-iŋ

: relating to or having a faulty but functional sense of hearing

Medical Definition

hard of hearing

adjective

hard of hear·​ing

ˌhärd-ə(v)-ˈhi(ə)r-iŋ

: relating to or having partial hearing loss

adults who are hard of hearing

the deaf and hard of hearing community