hlustaður

Hlustaður is a masculine noun in Icelandic meaning “hearer” or “listener.” It is formed from the verb hlusta, meaning “to listen,” combined with the agentive suffix -ður, producing a word that denotes a person who listens. The term is primarily found in older, more formal, or dialectal Icelandic and is not common in everyday modern usage.

In contemporary standard Icelandic, hlustandi is the more common word for “listener,” while plural forms referring to multiple listeners are hlustendur. Because hlustaður is largely historical or literary, it appears mainly in quotations from older texts or in linguistic discussions about Icelandic morphology rather than in current everyday speech.

Etymology connects hlustaður directly to hlusta and the productive agent-forming suffix -ður. Related terms include hlustandi (listener or one who listens) and hlustendur (plural listeners). Usage notes indicate that hlustaður is best understood as an archaic or stylistic variant rather than a current everyday synonym for listener. See also hlusta and hlustandi for more common lexical choices related to listening.