English Reference
Idiom idiom

music to someone's ears


A spoken expression or a sound which is pleasing; specifically, some good news, or welcome information or remarks.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

“Hearing that the project is finished is music to my ears.”

“Your offer to help me clean the kitchen is music to my ears.”

“The news that the flight is on time is music to their ears.”

CONTEXTUAL

“When the boss announced that we would all get a bonus this year, it was music to everyone's ears.”

“The sound of the rain hitting the roof was music to the farmer's ears after a long, dry summer without any water for his crops.”

“After she spent hours fixing the broken engine, the steady hum of the car finally starting was music to her ears.”

“The doctor’s confirmation that the surgery was a complete success was music to my ears after weeks of worrying about my health.”

COMPLEX

“After months of uncertainty regarding the company's future, the CEO's promise of job security was truly music to the employees' ears.”


From *music*, used in the sense of any interesting or pleasing sounds. The idiom functions as a figurative extension of the noun, though the specific date of its first appearance as a fixed phrase is not recorded in the source.


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    all ears

    Listening intently; fully focused.

  2. 02

    all eyes and ears

    Very attentive.

  3. 03

    another nail in someone's coffin

    An event that increases the likelihood of or causes further failure.

  4. 04

    answer someone's prayers

    To be or do exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.

  5. 05

    answer to someone's prayers

    Exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.

  6. 06

    apple of someone's eye

    The object of somebody's affections; a person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers; a favorite, a loved one.

  7. 07

    are your ears burning

    Asked of somebody who was not present but was the topic of discussion.

  8. 08

    bane of someone's existence

    Someone or something that poses a significant problem to someone.

Last updated August 10, 2026