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

This data is then combined with individualized HRTF profiles that account for the listener’s unique ear and head geometry, enabling highly accurate localization of sound through standard stereo headphones. —Jem Aswad, Variety, 12 June 2025

The trick is to find a way for the listeners and the viewers to feel sufficiently informed. —Eric Lach, New Yorker, 8 June 2025

When TikTok virality and playlist automation saturate listeners’ attention, artistic sameness threatens to rule the day—but independent artists on their own unique paths are still with us. —Jenn Pelly, Time, 7 June 2025

The anger melted away, eventually giving way to a dogged passion for getting the music in front of more listeners. —Tyler Hicks, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above