Hearer

//ˈhɪəɹə// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who hears.

    "Defaultism The defaultist view is that some conversational implicatures are default inferences—presumptive meanings—that the hearer makes unless given reason not to by the speaker."

  2. 2
    someone who listens attentively wordnet
  3. 3
    A person who regularly attends sermons; a devout listener.

    "Whilst Mr. Taale was priest in Osteröe, it happened that one of his hearers was carried away and returned again."

Synonyms

All synonyms
listeneraccepteracquireraddresseeattenderaudience

Example

More examples

"All natural languages are equally complex--but in different ways. The grammar of Malay is simple, but choices among many superficially equivalent words are dictated by the social status of speaker and hearer."

Etymology

From Middle English heerar, herere, hyerere, equivalent to hear + -er.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.