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

Getty Images The album might seem irrelevant to a majority of music listeners, who now go for individual tracks and make playlists on their favorite streaming service. —Steve Baltin, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025

He was known for his controversial political and social takes related to race, gun violence and immigration, and had an audience of millions of viewers and listeners across various platforms. —Connor Greene, Time, 17 Sep. 2025

Many people who lack self-understanding are viewed by others as untrustworthy, which relates to them being unpredictable, impulsive, poor listeners who are unable to understand other people’s perspectives and can’t see how their actions and behaviors are experienced by others. —Margaret C. Andrews, Big Think, 16 Sep. 2025

Unsurprisingly, Kreisler couldn’t contain her bubbly personality that radio listeners grew to love over her decades on KLOK and KBAY. —Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above