LISTENING IN (ON) Synonyms: 15 Similar Words

listening in (on)

verb

present participle of listen in (on)

as in eavesdropping (on)

to listen to (another in private conversation) it's not polite to listen in on other people's private conversations

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for listening in (on)

Verb

Potential industrial applications This was then used to tell the robot’s limbs what moves to make, all the while monitoring the cube’s state to check and correct for errors.

— Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2026
Use strong antivirus protection Strong antivirus software adds another layer of protection by monitoring suspicious behavior and detecting threats that may go unnoticed.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of monitoring

Verb

Helping other families Their experience seeking answers in Amy’s case and hearing other families describe similar struggles, prompted Shawn and Angie to consider starting a nonprofit years ago.

— Leigh Egan, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026
Police detained Runa at the care home and took her away before her mother, who had rushed back to the facility upon hearing the news, had a chance to see her, Yoko recalled.

— Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of hearing

Verb

To support their request to detain Alfozan, the government pointed to a case where former Twitter employees were charged with spying for the Saudi government.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
For additional privacy guidance, see our CyberGuy article, Are Apple devices spying?

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of spying

Verb

After weeks of overhearing the outbursts, O'Connor and his wife compiled their own top 10 list of Torn's most memorable lines.

— Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Morales recalled overhearing Ramirez on the phone in January confiding in someone about her troubled relationship.

— Theodore Parisienne, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of overhearing

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

listening

listening in (on)

listening (to)

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“Listening in (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/listening%20in%20%28on%29. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of listening in (on)

verb

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