(UK, dated, informal, derogatory) A person who cannot hear clearly or who fails to pay attention to what is said.
(UK, dated, informal, derogatory) A person who cannot hear clearly or who fails to pay attention to what is said. Its origin is in the wool and cotton mills of Northern England where the noise of the machinery and build-up of cotton dust made it difficult to hear people speaking. The earliest example in print is.
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Not hearing clearly.
Failing to pay attention.
A Caribbean English expression describing a refusal to listen, obey, or take advice — the quality of being willfully deaf to instruction or warning. Used especially of children who won't do as they're told, but also of stubborn adults. 'Hard-ears' carries an implication of deliberate defiance rather than simple mishearing, and it functions as both a noun and an adjective in Caribbean usage.
(Caribbean) A refusal to listen or obey.
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(UK, informal) To listen attentively.