open-eared

English

Etymology

Compare open-minded.

Adjective

open-eared (comparative more open-eared, superlative most open-eared)

1. Listening closely to something; attentive.

   Antonym: closed-eared

   Companies should be open-eared to feedback from their customers.

   • 2018 April 11, Serena Cho, quoting Kiran Damodaran, “CANDIDATE PROFILES: Saloni Rao '20”, in Yale Daily News‎^[1], archived from the original on 2021-09-22:

     "She is passionate yet level-headed, committed but collaborative, and focused on making important change, while remaining creative and effective," Damodaran wrote in an email to the News. "As a leader, she is extremely communicative and open-eared, which has allowed our group to be most effective in its review of sexual climate at Yale."

   • 2020 May 8, Dave LeBlanc, “A look back at Toronto's iconic Union Station”, in The Globe and Mail‎^[2], archived from the original on 2021-07-27:

     Except I was standing underneath Front Street, hard-hatted and open-eared, as representatives from Toronto's Union Station painted a picture of the retail paradise that this cavern was to become.

   • 2020 July 19, Wayne and Wanda, “I'm furious that my mostly-unemployed husband refuses to home-school our kids this fall”, in Anchorage Daily News‎^[3], archived from the original on 2020-10-28:

     Be open about your fears and anxieties, and be open-eared to your husband's feelings and thoughts too.

   • 2020 August 5, Dan Adler, “Remembering Pete Hamill, New York's Incisive Chronicler”, in Vanity Fair‎^[4], archived from the original on 2021-12-03:

     At its best, his writing was open-eared and curious, concerned with both his roots and their limitations.

2. Being receptive or open-minded to new styles of music.

   Antonym: closed-eared

   Many people tend to listen to what they know, but others are more open-eared.

   • 2014 December 9, Jon Caramanica, “Best albums and biggest rapper 2014: Jon Caramanica on J. Cole, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj, Bobby Shmurda, Drake.”, in Slate‎^[5], archived from the original on 2021-12-03:

     Which is everywhere—being open-eared is ostensibly a sign of anti-racism (not really) and gender progressivism (also not really) and is at least slightly aligned with the tenets of poptimism.

   • 2018 February 21, Mike West, “George Burton takes the audience on a wild ride”, in The Washington Post‎^[6], archived from the original on 2020-11-09:

     The audience was welcome and open-eared but also intrigued and riled up, and that's what Burton gave back to them.

   • 2017 December 26, Giovanni Russonello, “Roswell Rudd, 82, Trombonist With a Wide-Open Approach, Is Dead”, in The New York Times‎^[7], archived from the original on 2022-03-05:

     He dropped out of college and moved to New York in 1958, bringing a sanguine, open-eared approach and a grounding in the trombone's early-jazz history. In turn, he helped broaden the possibilities of an emerging avant-garde scene.

   • 2021 December 3, Ammar Kalia, “'Evolution is part of tradition': musician Makaya McCraven on the future of jazz”, in The Guardian‎^[8], archived from the original on 2023-02-06:

     It is an open-eared ethos that has led him to a wide group of collaborators, from younger British musicians such as the Mercury prize-nominated saxophonist Nubya Garcia to his fellow Chicagoans Junius Paul and Ben LaMar Gay.

   • 2023 February 22, Ben Madden, “In Australia, There's the Music Industry. And Then There's Soundcloud.^[sic]”, in VICE‎^[9], archived from the original on 2023-02-22:

     He believes that SoundCloud gave him the chance to reach open-eared listeners when starting out, and he's since channelled online momentum into real-world opportunities.

3. Synonym of open-back (“partially covering the ear”)
   • 2001 June 15, Chris G., “Shit n' A' STUDIO IS WHACK DICK”, in alt.music.4-track‎^[10] (Usenet):

     Not sure if Rat shack has any more decent headphones (you might find some old Pro-25's that they might still have in stock if you're lucky) but those are open eared.

   • 2002 May 2, Chris G., “Headphone recommendations for POD/V-amp”, in alt.guitar.effects‎^[11] (Usenet):

     While they are small open eared headphones, they have excellent sound quality, are fairly comfortable for wearing for long periods of time, and the bass response on them is absolutely incredible.

   • 2012 August 9, Joe Pollicino, “Klipsch revamps Image One series headphones, intros first Bluetooth variant (update: ears-on)”, in Engadget‎^[12], archived from the original on 2022-07-15:

     While the original's^[sic] let in nearly as much external sound as open-eared sets, we didn't really notice the same problem here -- that said, there's no way to tell how it would fair^[sic] on the likes of NYC's subway just yet.

Derived terms

• open-earedness

References

• “open-eared, adj.”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.