audiologist
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of audiologist
First recorded in 1940–45; audio- ( def. ) + -log(y) ( def. ) + -ist ( def. )
Explanation
If you’re unable to hear people speaking at normal volume, or hear ringing in your ears, you may want to see an audiologist: a specialist who treats hearing disorders and other problems, like balance issues, related to the ears. Using advanced diagnostic tools, audiologists evaluate peoples' auditory health. They test hearing ability to diagnose potential hearing loss. They fit and program corrective hearing aids, and they help manage tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Some audiologists specialize in the inner ear structures that control balance, running tests to figure out why someone might be feeling dizzy or unsteady. Audiologists are licensed professionals, most of whom have earned a Doctor of Audiology degree, but they are not medical doctors.
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:
She sees an audiologist, she has an MRI; as Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, it’s not a tumor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
As the audiologist walked me through the catalog of options for the type of hearing aid I needed, my stomach tightened.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024
The audiologist noted that I had missed several.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2024
The author is a writer and audiologist from Winnipeg, Canada.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
It was created by audiologist Ruth Avierinos who wants to "reduce the stigma around hearing conditions".
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2024
Inviting music students and student audiologists to collaborate in gaining a better understanding of what it means to hear in relation to what it means to listen is also essential in my view.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2025
Dr Angela Alexander, audiologist and owner of APD Support, a private organisation, is among the audiologists calling for more research into the impact of noise-cancelling headphones on auditory processing, particularly in children.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2025
And anyway, audiologists were expensive, and my hearing didn’t seem to be stopping me from doing everything I needed to do—at least, for many years.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024
Traditional aids, dispensed by audiologists, average $4,700 a pair and are not covered by Medicare or most private insurance.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 18, 2023
This is critical because not all hearing loss is the same; hearing specialists — both otolaryngologists and audiologists — are trained to decipher the type of hearing loss that a patient is experiencing.
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2022
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.
