hear

verb

ˈhir How to pronounce hear (audio)
Definition of hearnext
1
as in to realize
to come to an awareness of I heard your sister is home from the hospital

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to listen
to pay attention especially through the act of hearing at least hear what I have to say before you start disagreeing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of hear France is a highly centralized country, so what tends to happen in place of legislative incrementalism is people taking to the streets to be heard and to object. — Caroline Mimbs Nyce, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026 In 2019, the team heard about Hamas floating incendiary balloons over the border. — Margaux MacColl, Vanity Fair, 21 Oct. 2026 The case is being heard as a bench trial, meaning a judge, not a jury, will decide the outcome. — Alice Gainer, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026 Later this year, the court will hear oral arguments in a case testing whether a religious preschool can receive state funding while excluding LGBTQ families. — Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 21 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hear
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hear
  1. realize
  2. listen
  3. see
  4. discover
  5. learn
  6. find
Verb
  • Stocks, the OneLegacy nurse, realized OPOs have data that could help patients advocate for themselves, and started combing records.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The spirit company’s Instagram page shared a video of the moment people realized who their special guest was and began freaking out when Jenner walked in unannounced.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of realize
Verb
  • The body performs them automatically while the driver listens to music, talks with a passenger or eats a sandwich.
    — Jesse Granger, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The first phase is the music one listens to while thinking about writing, and the second is the music one listens to while actually writing.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of listen
Verb
  • The attacks, which saw 1,195 people killed and 251 taken into Gaza as hostages, triggered a major security crisis that led to three years of war on multiple fronts.
    — Yarden Segev, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The offense had a healthy-enough balance with the run game (more on that in a bit) to involve multiple pass-catchers, and the trio of leading receivers saw the immediate benefits.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of see
Verb
  • Some of the movie’s most memorable moments have barely anything to do with the plot, like when Matt discovers his eyelids fusing together and attempts to separate them with nail scissors in the bathroom of a bumpy plane.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Some way off Moss discovers a bag with $2 million in cash and takes it.
    — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of discover
Verb
  • The Sun enters your 3rd House, beginning a month that favors learning, writing, conversations, local activity, and following questions farther than usual.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The foundation cites decades of research and learning showing that grantees with flexible, long-term funding were better prepared for the unexpected.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of learn
Verb
  • Neither team could find a flow from three-point range in the first half as the teams combined to shoot five for 29 from deep — three of 16 by Golden State and two for 13 by Atlanta.
    — Janie McCauley, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Of the first 15 plays for the Dallas offense, 10 were on the ground, and the Cowboys found success.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of find

Browse Nearby Words

heaps
hear
heard
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hear.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hear. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All