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

Her advocacy expertise extends to housing, behavioral health and advocating for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. —Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 3 June 2025

Gallaudet University, in Washington, D.C., was founded in 1864 and is the world’s only institution of higher learning for the deaf and the hard of hearing. —David Owen, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has served a critical role in advancing accessible and equitable communications for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. —Chris Soukup, Harvard Business Review, 17 Sep. 2024

One of the main applications is for the deaf and hard of hearing in the workplace, where accessibility can be challenging. —Simon Hill, Wired News, 7 May 2025

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