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

SiriusXM, the largest satellite radio provider, had about 33 million subscribers and 170 million listeners as of last September. —Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 24 Apr. 2026

Knowing what the declaration actually says, and how its first listeners reacted, might not sway Americans at the extremes. —Thomas Tweed, The Conversation, 24 Apr. 2026

Also in her address, the mayor reminded listeners that one of her campaign promises was to look into the creation of an Urban Wealth Fund, an economic development tool that has been tried to various degrees in other countries, mostly in Europe and East Asia. —Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 23 Apr. 2026

Wade has 662,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. —Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above