listener
Americannoun
-
listeners
plural
-
someone who gives attention with the ear, especially for the purpose of hearing specific sounds, speech, instructions, etc..
At story time, you may choose to be a reader or a listener.
-
someone who listens to a radio broadcast or to a specific radio program.
They attract teenage listeners with pop songs about first love.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of listener
First recorded in 1600–20; listen ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. )
Vocabulary lists containing listener
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:
I have used AI to work on this capacity, and to become, well, if not exactly the world’s greatest listener, maybe 10% less bossy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David answer a few more listener questions, just to tide you over until after a quick break.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Today, according to career experts, being an active listener or agreeable conversationalist might hold more weight, particularly in communicating ideas.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
And that’s the result of a formidable quantity of skills acquired over half a century immersed in the rock ‘n’ roll trenches, whether as a listener, critic, producer, or active participant.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
The walking tour guides one through the city's various landmarks, reciting bits of information the listener might find enlightening.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
A spoilerphobe himself, Fennessey will often tell listeners when he’s about to reveal something.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
KFI asked listeners to turn on their car headlights that day in tribute.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
On the latest episode of ICYMI, host Kate Lindsay introduces listeners to the phenomenon of vertical microdramas, which are 90-second snippets of content chock-full of some of the most absurd plotlines you’ve ever seen.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
Such a request would usually make listeners recoil instinctively.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
There is no accurate count of how many listeners believed it and how many became terrified.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
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.
