audience
Americannoun
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audiences
plural
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the group of spectators at a public event; listeners or viewers collectively, as in attendance at a theater or concert.
The audience was respectful of the speaker's opinion.
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the persons reached by a book, radio or television broadcast, etc.; public.
Some works of music have a wide and varied audience.
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a regular public that manifests interest, support, enthusiasm, or the like; a following.
Every art form has its audience.
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opportunity to be heard; chance to speak to or before a person or group; a hearing.
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a formal interview with a sovereign, high officer of government, or other high-ranking person.
an audience with the pope.
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the act of hearing, or attending to, words or sounds.
noun
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a group of spectators or listeners, esp at a public event such as a concert or play
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the people reached by a book, film, or radio or television programme
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the devotees or followers of a public entertainer, lecturer, etc; regular public
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an opportunity to put one's point of view, such as a formal interview with a monarch or head of state
Grammar
See collective noun.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of audience
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin audientia “act of listening, group of listeners,” from audient-, stem of audiēns “hearing” (present participle of audīre “to hear”) + -ia -ia ( def. )
Explanation
An audience can be people watching a performance, or an opportunity to speak with someone important, like an audience with your favorite actor at a "meet and greet" event. The noun audience can describe all the people watching a performance, or the part of the general public interested in a specific type of information or entertainment. For example, the audience for a show about raising children might be parents or other care-givers. Finally, an audience can be a meeting or interview, like an audience with your school's principal.
Vocabulary lists containing audience
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Common Senses: Aud ("Hear")
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Reform UK's Nigel Farage has by far the biggest online audience of any UK party leader, with 7.6 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
“I try to be honest and authentic and raw and feral and committed in a moment, so that there’s an invitation of experience versus a force-feeding of something that I hope the audience should feel.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
And the pace is such that the youngest audience members may drift off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Langley told a TED audience in April that the misuse of the company’s technology was “a trade-off I can make” compared to the number of investigations he said it assists with.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Not only did he have an audience for his juggling and all his party tricks, but he had Marlene to show off with as well.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
“People connected with the mystery of it, and I think audiences love trying to figure out what’s going to happen or who did it,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
While the couple signed a mega deal with Netflix in 2020 reportedly worth an unconfirmed $100 million, many of their projects have struggled to win over audiences.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
In the episode “HDP,” audiences learn that he now lives in the Imperial Sky Villa, or Elvis Presley’s former penthouse suite, at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The resulting movie, which opens in US theaters on Friday, promises to take audiences into the Further -- and bring back the demons who live there.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Being a restless child, he quickly grew bored with the familiarity of the dances and chose instead to watch the audiences.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
