What does deafening mean?
Word: Deafening
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Deafening means so loud that you can hardly hear anything else.
Synonyms: thunderous, booming
Antonyms: quiet
How do you spell deafening?
Syllables: deaf - en - ing
Tricky part: The short e sound at the start is spelt ea, as in head and bread. Pupils who spell the sound write defening.
Watch out for: defening, deffening
Memory tip: Head and bread spell a short e with ea. Picture a deafening drum right beside your head, and the ea stays put.
Deafening in a sentence
Example 1: The cheer from the crowd was deafening when India hit the winning six.
Example 2: A deafening clap of thunder woke us all at midnight.
Example 3: The music in the hall was so deafening that we had to shout to each other.
Fun Fact
People often speak of a deafening silence: a silence so complete that everyone notices it, such as when a teacher asks a question and nobody answers.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
One letter in this word is not needed. Find it:
deafenning
a) e
b) n
c) f
d) a
Show answer
b) n. Deafen adds ing without doubling its n, as happen does in happening.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters to find the word that fits the sentence:
The anegeifnd beat of the dhol drums at the wedding shook the windows.
a) defending
b) deadening
c) defeating
d) deafening
Show answer
d) deafening. A beat that shakes windows is very loud, and letters with a single d and no t can only give deafening.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word deafening as used in the sentence:
The deafening roar of the waterfall drowned out our voices.
a) blaring
b) faint
c) roaring
d) crashing
Show answer
b) faint. A faint sound is so quiet you can barely hear it.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. deafening 2. thunderous 3. murmer 4. echo
a) a sound that bounces back off a wall or hill
b) a low, soft sound of voices
c) painfully loud
d) very loud, like the rumble of a storm
Show answer
b) a low, soft sound of voices. Murmur has the same vowel, u, in both its syllables.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In which place would a deafening noise be least surprising?
a) at a quiet bus stop at dawn
b) beside a jet at take-off
c) in a garden on a still evening
d) in a library reading room
Show answer
b) beside a jet at take-off
2. When a noise is deafening, people near it often ____
a) cover their ears
b) begin to whisper
c) speak more softly
d) feel very sleepy
Show answer
a) cover their ears
