aural
1 Americanadjective
adjective
adjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- aurally adverb
Etymology
Origin of aural1
First recorded in 1840–50; from Latin aur(is) “the ear” + -al 1
Origin of aural2
Explanation
If you have excellent aural abilities, it means that your ears work well. Aural means "pertaining to hearing." Some people learn well using their aural skills, which means they can hear something and remember it easily later. The root of the word aural is the Latin word meaning "pertaining to the ear," auris. It's easy to get aural confused with another word that sounds similar, oral, which means "pertaining to the mouth."
Vocabulary lists containing aural
The Bluest Eye
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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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.
That sort of line is as close as the movie gets to being funny, and the songs, while reasonably tuneful, are bland aural wallpaper.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
Stone’s iPad, with its open sonic complexity, created a sense of space, a roomy aural soundscape in which jazz and butoh became elements not egos, not larger than life, just more life, the merrier.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025
These fanciful instances benefit from Mari Fukuhara’s score, a drizzle of aural luminosity.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2025
Sound mixer Simon Hayes said the live singing shifts further past just the aural experience attached to their performances.
From Salon • Mar. 2, 2025
Eurhythmics awakens the physical, aural, and visual images of music in the mind.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
