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

Zann was back home in Truro, Nova Scotia, figuring out her next chapter when she received an email from a friend who said producers at Disney were looking to have her audition for a show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

“I got the audition last year, about April,” Callan recalled, “just to recur. And I said, ‘This is silly, they’re not going to cast a Los Angeles actor to go recur in Massachusetts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

He said: "Usually you'd get a script... with this particular audition you were asked to come in in character, there was no script, and you weren't allowed to break until Ricky had finished the audition."

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

He said he spotted "a beautiful girl" in a yellow dress and invited her to audition for Mariette, despite Jones only being in the building for a light entertainment programme.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

I sat with the boys on the sidewalk by the office as Zion said, “I think I might audition for The Wizard of Oz.”

From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling

A show about a struggling actor navigating the indignities of auditions?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Next came a year of auditions in Australia and the U.S. before I was cast as Jake Sully in “Avatar.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

After Wembanyama re-watched the film of the auditions to select his captains, he convened them with a presentation laying out their mission in no uncertain terms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

Self-tape auditions are solicited, with callbacks held via Zoom.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

I nanny and go to auditions wearing simple black and white skirts and blouses, wear flat shoes, and rarely put on makeup or jewelry.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

She managed to see off 300,000 other teenagers who auditioned during a global casting search, to secure just one of the four coveted roles.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Three years after winning the Laura look-alike contest, she auditioned to play Laura in the Netflix adaptation through an open casting call, but didn’t get the part.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

After three final women auditioned, Burley explained how the casting director told the group to "make your mind up".

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

The assistant to the casting director who auditioned me must have forgotten to ask.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

I auditioned different spellings, each worse than the last.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Abela: I had a lot of rounds of auditioning for Yasmin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

He conducted his briefing as if he was auditioning for the job he already holds.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

Blanche has rejected the idea that he is auditioning for the permanent top job, which would require Senate confirmation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

Blanche seems to be quite aggressively auditioning for the AG job, and he also seems to be much less constrained by whatever the thing was that once constrained Bondi.

From Slate ● May 4, 2026

"I'm not asking you on a date. I'm asking you to an extracurricular activity. We will sit in the back of an auditorium and laugh at the kids auditioning to play me."

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

Related Words

• demo
• tryout