• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “Words are empty for a deaf person.” Trying to communicate with someone who refuses to listen — or who is metaphorically ‘deaf’ to reason — is a waste of breath. The proverb is used when argument, advice, or explanation falls on stubbornly closed ears, not necessarily on someone with hearing loss.

  English equivalent

  There's none so deaf as those who will not hear. / It falls on deaf ears.

  Vocabulary

  • głuchy — deaf (adjective/noun)
  • głuchemu — for a deaf person (dative of głuchy)
  • próżny — empty, vain, futile
  • próżne — empty/vain (neuter plural, agreeing with słowa)
  • słowa — words (nominative plural of słowo)

  Grammar note

  Głuchemu is the dative singular of the adjective głuchy used as a noun — the dative indicates 'for the deaf person' (the recipient of the futile words). Próżne is a neuter plural adjective agreeing with słowa (neuter plural). The sentence is verbless — a hallmark of terse, aphoristic Polish proverbs — with próżne słowa acting as a predicate nominative.

  Cultural context

  Used across formal and informal registers when someone is not listening or refuses to engage with reason. The tone is resigned rather than angry. In older usage, głuchy could mean simply 'heedless' or 'indifferent,' not only physically deaf — so the proverb has always been metaphorical. It is less common in everyday speech than some others, giving it a slightly literary feel.

  Intermediate

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