audition

American  

[aw-dish-uhn] / ɔˈdɪʃ ən /

noun

• auditions
  plural

1. a trial hearing given to a singer, actor, or other performer to test suitability for employment, professional training or competition, etc.

2. a reading or other simplified rendering of a theatrical work, performed before a potential backer, producer, etc.

3. the act, sense, or power of hearing.

4. something that is heard.

---

verb (used with or without object)

• auditions,
  present (3rd person singular)
• auditioned,
  past participle,  past
• auditioning
  present participle

1. to try or compete in an audition.

   to audition aspiring actors; to audition for the leading role.

audition British  

/ ɔːˈdɪʃən /

noun

1. a test at which a performer or musician is asked to demonstrate his ability for a particular role, etc

2. the act, sense, or power of hearing

---

verb

1. to judge by means of or be tested in an audition

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• auditioner
  noun
• reaudition
  noun
• unauditioned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• auditions
  plural

Participles

• auditioning
  present
• auditioned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• audition
  simple
• auditions
  simple
• have auditioned
  perfect
• has auditioned
  perfect
• am auditioning
  progressive
• are auditioning
  progressive
• is auditioning
  progressive
• have been auditioning
  perfect progressive
• has been auditioning
  perfect progressive

Past

• auditioned
  simple
• had auditioned
  perfect
• was auditioning
  progressive
• were auditioning
  progressive
• had been auditioning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will audition
  simple
• will have auditioned
  perfect
• will be auditioning
  progressive
• will have been auditioning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of audition

1590–1600; (< Middle French ) < Latin audītiōn- (stem of audītiō hearing). See auditive, -ion

Explanation

An audition is a tryout for a role in a movie, orchestra, or play. If you bomb the audition, you probably won't make it into the cast. When describing a tryout in which an actor, singer, musician, or dancer tries to prove that he or she is talented enough to earn a part in a show, audition is used as a noun. The word can also be used as a verb, as in, "I auditioned for the part of Peter Pan, but every time I tried to fly I fell flat on my face." Audition shares a common heritage with audience, the group of people who will eventually watch the show for which a performer has auditioned. Both words come from the Middle French term meaning "power of hearing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

audition auditions auditioned auditioning

And though Mona’s audition might be far from it, that little spark of community and care is all she needs to feel like she’s right where she should be.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Moore plays Mona, a meek, thoroughly unseen wife and mother who impulsively decides to audition for a community theater musical despite having no experience.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

We meet Mona in media res, nervously tapping her shoes on the carpeted lobby floor and fretting over her audition.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Their attention was soon caught by the throngs of children lining up for what turned out to be an open audition for the film.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

That night when I called Dad, the first thing he asked about was the talent show audition.

From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez

Her work in Hollywood initially involved making the journey from the desert to L.A. for auditions.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Cutting to nine years later, when it was like, you can go into auditions and be gay, people want to hear that, in fact, they’re only casting for gay roles now.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

Her mum's a big fan of the Netflix series, which follows the cheerleaders through gruelling auditions and training regimes as they compete for their spot dancing in one of the world's best known squads.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Following my fifth year in repertory theater, casting director Rosemarie Tichler, who had befriended me at Carnegie Mellon’s TCG auditions, urged me to move to New York, so I did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The truth is that when I got home from the auditions, I didn’t feel like talking to Tanisha, Pop Pop, or TJ.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

On a double date with her husband and their best friends, Mona, beaming, tells the group that she’s auditioned for “a musical show.”

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

I told him, auditioned and got the role.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The band initially formed as a trio called Triple J in 2011 before they auditioned in the ninth series of The X Factor.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

After taking early retirement, she took acting classes and auditioned for roles, beginning her career with magazine ads and commercials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Most of my friends are—even Nick, who’d never auditioned for anything in his life until this.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

She’s more interested in what simply auditioning made her feel, how she came alive, if only for a brief few moments until Jerry cut her off.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Everyone was waiting for someone, auditioning for something or trying on a new version of life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Seyfried landed the role of Karen Smith in the hit 2004 movie “Mean Girls” after auditioning for the lead part, Regina George.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

"It's kind of like you're auditioning for Australia 2029 because geographically we're definitely going to be travelling some distance in this tournament," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

“I’ve been auditioning in New York for two years now, and nothing was as stressful as my audition in ninth grade,” he says.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Related Words

• demo
• tryout