fazer orelhas moucas

To use this correctly, you need the verb fazer (to do/make). You conjugate fazer based on who is doing the ignoring. The rest of the phrase, orelhas moucas, stays the same because it describes the "state" of the ears. You usually use the preposition a (to) or para (for) to indicate who is being ignored. For example, Ele faz orelhas moucas aos meus conselhos (He turns a deaf ear to my advice). It’s a very flexible phrase. You can use it in the past, present, or future. If you’re at a party and someone is talking about crypto for three hours, you might tell your friend later: Eu fiz orelhas moucas o tempo todo (I turned a deaf ear the whole time). Just remember: it’s orelhas (ears), not ouvidos (the inner ear/hearing), although ouvidos moucos is a common variation we'll discuss later. Stick to orelhas for a slightly more vivid, physical image of someone literally hardening their outer ears against you.

Imagine a typical morning at home. Your mom is shouting from the kitchen: "Did you clean your room?" You are currently mid-boss-fight in a game. You don't move. You don't blink. You are fazendo orelhas moucas.

Speaker A: A tua mãe está a chamar-te há dez minutos!

Speaker B: Eu sei, estou a fazer orelhas moucas para ver se ela desiste.

Another scenario: You're at work, and that one colleague who loves to complain about the coffee machine starts their daily rant. You simply nod, look at your screen, and faz orelhas moucas. You’ve mastered the art of selective silence. It also happens on social media. When a celebrity gets thousands of hate comments but keeps posting selfies as if nothing is happening, the fans might say: Ela faz orelhas moucas às críticas. It’s a survival strategy in the digital age. If we listened to every notification, we’d go crazy!

You should use this phrase when you want to highlight that the ignoring is intentional. It’s perfect for describing children who won’t eat their broccoli or a boyfriend who "forgets" to buy milk despite being told five times. It’s also great for serious contexts, like a government ignoring the demands of the people. If you’re writing a blog post about productivity and you want to say people should ignore distractions, you could say: Faz orelhas moucas às notificações do telemóvel. It sounds much more native than just saying ignora. It adds a layer of character to your speech. It’s also a bit cheeky. Using it suggests you know exactly what’s happening, but you’re choosing to stay in your own bubble. It’s the perfect phrase for that one friend who always asks for advice but never follows it.

Don't use this if someone actually has hearing loss! That would be incredibly awkward and potentially offensive. If you’re in a loud club and you literally can't hear your friend over the bass, don't say you are fazendo orelhas moucas. Just say Não consigo ouvir nada! (I can’t hear anything!). Also, avoid using it in extremely formal legal documents. It’s a bit too idiomatic for a court of law. You wouldn't say the judge fez orelhas moucas to the evidence; you’d say the judge desconsiderou (disregarded) the evidence. Finally, don't use it if the ignoring is accidental. If you were just distracted or daydreaming about pastel de nata, you didn't "make" deaf ears—you were just distraído. This phrase requires a conscious decision to be a bit of a wall.

Learners often mix up the body parts.

While surdo is the modern word for deaf, the idiom specifically uses moucas. Using surdas sounds like you’re translating literally from English or Spanish.

You don't "hear" the deaf ears; you "make" them.

Remember the preposition! You do it to someone (a).

Another common slip is forgetting to pluralize. It’s always orelhas moucas, never orelha mouca. You have two ears, so you use both to ignore someone properly! It's twice the effort, after all.

If you want to spice things up, you can use fazer ouvidos de mercador (to make merchant’s ears). This comes from the idea that traveling merchants only hear what benefits their trade and ignore everything else. It’s a bit more old-school but very common. Then there’s the classic entrar por um ouvido e sair pelo outro (to go in one ear and out the other). This is used when someone listens but immediately forgets or doesn't care. If you want to be more modern and aggressive, you might say dar um gelo (to give a freeze/the cold shoulder), though that’s more about not talking to someone at all. Fazer orelhas moucas is specifically about the act of not *listening* to what is being said right now. It's the "I'm busy" of body language.

In Brazil, you might hear fazer ouvidos moucos more often than orelhas moucas. The meaning is identical, but ouvidos feels slightly more formal or traditional. In Portugal, orelhas is very popular in daily speech. Sometimes people just say Fizeste-te mouco? (Did you make yourself deaf?) as a direct question when they realize you’re ignoring them. You might also see it in literature as fazer ouvidos de tísico, though that’s much rarer and a bit dark. Another variation is fechar os ouvidos (to close the ears), which is more literal but less idiomatic. Stick to orelhas moucas if you want to sound like you’ve been living in Lisbon for years and know all the local secrets.

Is it rude? It can be! It implies the person is being stubborn. Use it carefully.

Can I use it for myself? Yes! Eu fiz orelhas moucas is a great way to admit you ignored someone's bad advice.

Is it common? Extremely. You'll hear it in soaps (telenovelas), on the news when talking about politicians, and in every household with kids.

Does it change for gender? No, moucas always agrees with orelhas (feminine plural). The person doing the action doesn't change the ending of moucas. So, a man says Eu fiz orelhas moucas and a woman says Eu fiz orelhas moucas. The ears are the ones that are deaf, not the person!