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

Perhaps no pop song of the 2010s provoked so much debate — even from sympathetic listeners. —Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2025

Before my videos, communication advice seemed abstract—things like being an active listener or more empathetic. —Melody Wilding, Lmsw, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

What To Know Speaking at the Morgan Stanley conference on March 5, Musk told listeners that Amtrak was an example of a service that should be privatized, as it wasn't being properly managed. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025

Years after introducing himself to listeners as a veiled country crooner, Orville Peck's mask is finally coming off. —Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined above