listener

noun

lis·​ten·​er ˈli-sᵊn-ər 

ˈlis-nər

plural listeners

: one who listens to someone or something

a radio program with many listeners

a friend who's a good listener [=who listens attentively and sympathetically]

Fanny, being always a very courteous listener, and often the only listener at hand, came in for the complaints and distresses of most of them.

—Jane Austen

The average concertgoer drifts in and out of the music, often losing the thread. The listener can't always hear the music in the music, and tends to notice only the most obvious (usually the loudest) events.

—David Schiff

Examples of listener in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The production is directed and performed by Italian artists for Italian listeners. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2026

While listeners today embrace music from different genres and countries, Nguyen says there’s still a way to go before Southeast Asia’s music industry can scale globally. — Angelica Ang, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2026

Weeks before our call, in the warm glow of a Lower Manhattan vinyl listening theater, a DJ dropped the needle on classic soul records for a room full of attentive young listeners who weren’t alive for their release. — Natelegé Whaley, VIBE.com, 3 Nov. 2026

Its app and customization settings aren’t built for more particular audiophiles, but for casual listeners, the speaker sounds rich and detailed right out of the box without a single tweak. — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 3 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above