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Today, "audition" most often refers to a theatrical tryout, but that wasn't always the case. "Audition" is rooted in the Latin verb audire, meaning "to hear," and was first used in the late 16th century to refer to the power or sense of hearing. "Audire" is also the root of such "hearing" words in English as "audible," "audience" (which first meant "the act or state of hearing"), and the prefix audio-, which appears in various words relating to sound. It wasn't until late 19th century that the noun "audition" began being used for an entertainer's trial performance. And the verb audition, meaning "to test or try out in an audition," didn't appear on the English language stage until the mid-20th century.
Examples of audition in a Sentence
Ellise Shafer, Variety, 25 Apr. 2024
Going on 30 is the first role you were ever offered without an audition.
—Keaton Bell, Vogue, 19 Apr. 2024
The actors met at an audition in 1982, later linking up at an event in New York City and marrying in 1989.
—Kate Hogan, Peoplemag, 15 Apr. 2024
He was chosen through a worldwide casting call and a monthslong audition process that included long stretches of radio silence.
—Brandon Yu, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
So after that audition, there was an audition to do some other shows with them.
—Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 12 Apr. 2024
The exec producers say that Xuande’s tape came in early and impressed them immediately, but the 36-year-old actor still was subject to an eight-month audition process that included flying to Korea (to meet with Park) and to Los Angeles from his home in Australia.
—Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
The search for Call’s successor took about three months and included live auditions in a nearly empty Excite Ballpark, Taylor said.
—Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 9 Apr. 2024
From all the auditions across the country, 143 contestants got golden tickets to Hollywood.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Apr. 2024
Ellise Shafer, Variety, 25 Apr. 2024
Vo was a junior in high school selling bath bombs at a soap shop in Downtown Disney when she was encouraged to audition for a lookalike role at Disneyland Resort.
—Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
In an interview on The Ringer's Dear Felicity podcast, Garner recalls auditioning for the show and having to have a good cry in the bathroom due to the emotion of the scene.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2024
There are some delightfully quirky stories from your childhood, like how your mother bred beagles in your garage and auditioned them for commercials and TV shows.
—Alexandra Alter, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
What led you to audition for the second season of The X Factor?
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 3 Apr. 2024
Workers were allegedly told that the photos would be used as a way to audition for modeling opportunities at the brand.
—Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
As the trailer shows, Minx is auditioning for her break even as a mysterious killer known as The Night Stalker is murdering women in Hollywood.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Apr. 2024
Perhaps the 49ers will be compelled to chase another pass rusher with their first-round pick (No. 31 overall) rather than rely so heavily on auditioning the current crew.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'audition.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near audition
Cite this Entry
“Audition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/audition. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
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audition
1 of 2 noun
audition
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audition
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