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audiologist

American  
[aw-dee-ol-uh-jist] / ˌɔ diˈɒl ə dʒɪst /

noun

  • audiologists
    plural
  1. a specialist in the treatment of hearing disorders, including evaluation of hearing function and rehabilitation of patients with hearing impairments.

    If your toddler keeps removing the hearing aid, tell your audiologist, as it may be overamplifying.


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.

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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:

An audiologist would perform advanced testing related to the inner ear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

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

Her audiologist and others in England are now calling for more research into whether the condition is linked to overuse of noise-cancelling headphones.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2025

At my follow-up appointment a week later, the audiologist walked me through the contract to purchase hearing aids.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024

The audiologist noted that I had missed several.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2024

After meeting with doctors, audiologists, speech therapists and the families of other deaf children, Pride’s parents made a series of decisions that would change the course of his life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

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

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