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

There are no speakers in the songs of MJ Lenderman other than MJ Lenderman, whose diffidence and exhaustion are in all-too-perfect lockstep with the psychic frustrations of his listeners. —Armin Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026

Fishel asked him to explain it more for listeners. —Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Jan. 2026

StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. —Jillian Taylor, StateImpact, 8 Jan. 2026

View Outside’s longstanding literary storytelling tradition comes to life in audio with features that will both entertain and inform listeners. —Outside Online, 7 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above