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

And like Limbaugh, who built himself from a radio shock jock to a media titan by feeding listeners’ grievances, Fuentes tells his audience a story that encourages them to channel their anxieties and frustrations into disdain and hate for women and non-white people. —Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Money, 6 June 2026

In Tennessee, the city of Chattanooga is funding community ideas to increase connection and time in nature, including benches where people can speak with volunteer listeners. —Aneri Pattani, USA Today, 6 June 2026

Coming from the comedy world themselves, the duo take listeners down hilarious rabbit holes about pet peeves, dating dilemmas and life hacks. —Emily Weaver, PEOPLE, 5 June 2026

Although many aficionados may be able to exercise that skill in one or two genres, rarely does a listener possess the encyclopedic knowledge for more than that. —Juliet Izon, The Atlantic, 4 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above