buy with one's ears

verb

To buy works of art based on reputation and expected future gains rather than aesthetic or artistic value.

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Meanings

verbbuy with one's ears (third-person singular simple present buys with one's ears, present participle buying with one's ears, simple past and past participle bought with one's ears)

present singular third person buys with one's ears · participle present buying with one's ears · participle past bought with one's ears · past bought with one's ears

  1. colloquialartTo buy works of art based on reputation and expected future gains rather than aesthetic or artistic value.

    Foreign buyers entering the western art market are also buying artists with their ears rather than their eyes, and overpaying if others have.

    2010, Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Aurum Press Limited, →ISBN
Cite this entry
APA

buy with one's ears. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20with%20one's%20ears

MLA

“buy with one's ears.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20with%20one's%20ears. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buy with one's ears,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20with%20one's%20ears.

Source: buy with one's ears on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.