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

But what storytellers need the most are story listeners. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 4 May 2025

The concert, set to take place before El Clásico on May 10, will be invite-only and be accessible only to the city’s most loyal listeners. —Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 2 May 2025

While loyal listeners will no doubt flock to the (virtual) shelves for album release day, Streisand will not be one of them. —Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 1 May 2025

In its first frame, the collaboration earned 19.5 million streams on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, sold 6,000 copies, and reached a radio audience of 2.9 million listeners. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above