auditory
Americanadjective
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Anatomy, Physiology. pertaining to hearing, to the sense of hearing, or to the organs of hearing.
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perceived through or resulting from the sense of hearing.
auditory hallucinations.
noun
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auditories
plural
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an assembly of hearers; audience.
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an auditorium, especially the nave of a church.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of auditory
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin audītōrius relating to hearing. See auditor, -tory 1
Explanation
If you describe something as auditory, it is related to the process of hearing. If someone says "Surrender Dorothy" and you hear "Where's the laundry," you have an auditory problem. The word auditory is based on the Latin word audire, meaning to hear. If you have an auditory processing disorder, you may have trouble discerning conversation in a noisy room, or hear a ringing sound at all times. Some teachers think there's something wrong with their students' auditory capacity, but actually they're just being ignored.
Vocabulary lists containing auditory
Common Senses: Aud ("Hear")
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aud
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #2
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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:
The next time I sit through another auditory gauntlet on the number 29, I will keep that in mind.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Instead of highlighting motor regions as the main driver of speech learning, the research suggests that auditory and somatosensory systems are critical for acquiring and retaining new speech patterns.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026
"When you stimulate these serotonergic neurons, we can see that it stimulates activity in the auditory region in the brain," Trussell said.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026
If we aren’t receiving that auditory input, it can affect our walking speed, doctors say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
Another aspect of the auditory cortex’s function is how it groups or perceives musical information.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
But the cloister-pupil was not thinking of the cool auditories of his monastery.
From Ekkehard. Vol. II (of II). A Tale of the Tenth Century by Joseph Victor von Scheffel
Its future auditories will be the generations of men, as they rise up before it and gather round it’ Webster.
From The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, February 1844 Volume 23, Number 2 by Various
He saw his neighbors' ears clogged, and he was prepared to die howling if only he could pierce those encrusted auditories.
From Mary, Mary by Padraic Colum
Let us, then, contemplate a little closer the different kinds of concerts—their features and their character—their performers and their auditories.
From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 436 Volume 17, New Series, May 8, 1852 by Robert Chambers
It cannot be said that much harm has resulted from the full liberty permitted him, or that neglect on his part has impaired the generally attractive aspect of our theatrical auditories.
From A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character by Dutton Cook
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.
