headphones

H4E1A1D2P3H4O1N1E1S1
UK/ˈhɛdfəʊnz/US/ˈhɛdfoʊnz/Australia/ˈhedfəʉnz/New Zealand/ˈhedfɐʉnz/

noun

A pair of cushioned speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound.

“Circumaural headphones enclose the ear, supra-aural headphones rest on the ear's surface, and earbuds are placed inside the ear.”

Similar
cansheads
Opposite
earphonesearbuds
OriginEnglish phones ← Middle English heed ← Old English hēafod →
CommonScrabble 19
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Meanings

nounheadphones pl (normally plural, singular headphone)

singular headphone

  1. pluralplural normallyA pair of cushioned speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound.

    Circumaural headphones enclose the ear, supra-aural headphones rest on the ear's surface, and earbuds are placed inside the ear.

    4 more examples

    My headphones / They saved my life / Your tape / It lulled me to sleep

    1995, “Headphones”, in Post, performed by Björk

    Toward the end of the film Nazu rushes into her bedroom, clamps on headphones and listens to the technopoppy "I Wanna Be Free." The picturization shows her moving convulsively, desperately to the funky beat, turning ever more agitated, until we wonder what she wants to be free from: free from her domestic vise, or free from life?

    2005, Richard Corliss, Time, Profile of A.R. Rahman

    When it didn't make a sound, he realized the headphones were still covering his ears and tore them off, flinging them to the side.

    2015, Tessa Bailey, Crashed Out, Entangled Publishing, LLC

    Detectorists may also carry headphones, a metal detecting shovel, hand tools such as a hori-hori (a serrated, steel hand shovel), a “finds pouch,” and a hand-held precision detector called a pinpointer.

    2021 May 31, Alexandra Marvar, “The New Detectorists”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Synonyms: cans, heads

    1. pluralplural normallyspecificallyA pair of cushioned speakers worn over or on the ears.

      Synonyms: cans, heads · Antonyms: earphones, earbuds

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA pair of cushioned speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound.

Similar
cansheads

nounA pair of cushioned speakers worn over or on the ears.

Similar
cansheads
Opposite
earphonesearbuds

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  4. Proto-Germanic*haubudą
  5. Old Englishhēafod
  6. Middle Englishheed
  7. Englishhead
  8. Englishphones
  9. Englishheadphones

From head + phones.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic سَمَّاعَة, سَمَاعَات الرَّأْس
  • سَمَّاعَة (sammāʕa)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • سَمَاعَات الرَّأْس (samāʕāt ar-raʔs)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Bulgarian слу́шалки
  • слу́шалки (slúšalki)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Catalan auriculars
  • auricularspair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Chinese Cantonese 耳機 /耳机
  • 耳機 /耳机 (ji⁵ gei¹)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Chinese Mandarin 耳機 /耳机, 耳筒
  • 耳機 /耳机 (ěrjī)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • 耳筒 (ěrtǒng)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Czech sluchátka
  • sluchátkapair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Danish hovedtelefoner, høretelefoner
  • hovedtelefonerpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • høretelefonerpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Dutch hoofdtelefoon, koptelefoon
  • hoofdtelefoonpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • koptelefoonpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Esperanto aŭskultiloj, kapaŭskultiloj
  • aŭskultilojpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • kapaŭskultilojpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Estonian kõrvaklapid
  • kõrvaklapidpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Finnish kuulokkeet, luurit
  • kuulokkeetpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • luuritpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
French casque, écouteurs
  • casquepair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • écouteurspair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
German Kopfhörer
  • Kopfhörerpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Greek ακουστικά
  • ακουστικά (akoustiká)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Hebrew אָזְנִית, אוזניות
  • אָזְנִיתpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • אוזניותpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Hindi आकर्णक, हेडफ़ोन
  • आकर्णक (ākarṇak)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • हेडफ़ोन (heḍfon)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Hungarian fejhallgató, fülhallgató
  • fejhallgatópair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • fülhallgatópair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Icelandic heyrnartól
  • heyrnartólpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Irish cluasáin
  • cluasáinpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Italian cuffie
  • cuffiepair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Japanese ヘッドフォン, ヘッドホン
  • ヘッドフォン (heddofon)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • ヘッドホン (heddohon)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • イヤフォン (iyafon)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Korean 헤드폰, 이어폰
  • 헤드폰 (hedeupon)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • 이어폰 (ieopon)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Latin auscultābulum
  • auscultābulumpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Latvian austiņas
  • austiņaspair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Malay fon kepala
  • fon kepalapair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Norwegian Bokmål hodetelefoner, høretelefoner
  • hodetelefonerpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • høretelefonerpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Persian هدفون, گوشی
  • هدفون (hedfon)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • گوشی (guši)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Polish słuchawki
  • słuchawkipair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Portuguese fones, fones de cabeça
  • fonespair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • fones de cabeçapair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • auscultadorespair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Romanian cască
  • cascăpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Russian нау́шники
  • нау́шники (naúšniki)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Slovak slúchadlá
  • slúchadlápair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Spanish cascos, auriculares
  • cascospair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • auricularespair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • audífonospair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Swedish hörlurar
  • hörlurarpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Thai หูฟัง
  • หูฟัง (hǔu-fang)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Turkish kulaklık
  • kulaklıkpair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Ukrainian наву́шники
  • наву́шники (navúšnyky)pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Vietnamese ống nghe, tai nghe
  • ống nghepair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
  • tai nghepair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Welsh clustffonau
  • clustffonaupair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound
Cite this entry
APA

headphones. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headphones

MLA

“headphones.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headphones. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “headphones,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headphones.

Source: headphones on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.