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 player has been engineered with discerning listeners in mind and uses an exclusive Vector Linear Shaping Circuit, a proprietary technology that removes pulse noise from the signal path using advanced algorithms. —Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025

Hamilton, this year’s Ford C. Frick Award winner for broadcasting excellence, has spent 36 seasons bringing the Cleveland Indians and Guardians to his radio listeners with gusto and verve. —Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 25 July 2025

Santos ended the call by calling on listeners to come together despite political differences. —ABC News, 25 July 2025

In his new podcast, Vargas Arango tells the story of one listener in particular who came from his own home town: Stefano, a schizoaffective teenager who wrote to him from Medellin, Colombia. —Steve Drummond, NPR, 23 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above