highlighter

American  

[hahy-lahy-ter] / ˈhaɪˌlaɪ tər /

noun

• highlighters
  plural

1. a felt-tip pen with a wide nib for highlighting passages of printed material in a soft, transparent color.

2. a cosmetic powder or cream applied to the face in places where light would naturally hit, as the cheeks, forehead, chin, and center of the nose, to create a glowing effect.

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highlighter British  

/ ˈhaɪˌlaɪtə /

noun

1. a cosmetic cream or powder applied to the face to highlight the cheekbones, eyes, etc

2. a fluorescent felt-tip pen used as a marker to emphasize a section of text without obscuring it

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• highlighters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of highlighter

First recorded in 1965–70; highlight + -er ¹ ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

highlighter highlighters

“They’ve had a curated set of items that they’ve gone after, so whether that be in blushes or in lips or in highlighter or bronzing categories, they’re seeing strength across the board,” Fields said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

I grabbed a highlighter from the bottom of my bag and began sketching a little illustration of the soup, coloring in the carrot chunks with bright orange.

From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2025

Santos recommends an Estée Lauder foundation and for Gaetz to avoid highlighter altogether.

From Slate ● Jan. 12, 2025

“Not only is she from California, she’s from the Bay Area. There’s no purpose to be served for her by putting a yellow highlighter on that. I wouldn’t put him on the road.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2024

She reaches into her bag for her day planner, highlighter, and colored clicky pen, three things she never leaves home without.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

“In the old days, which was a year ago…you’d print out the statements of the town Visa card, Mastercard, and you would hand out a box of highlighters and go to work.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

To get a sense of whether you’re spending your money meaningfully, Agnew suggests we review monthly spending with highlighters in three different colors.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 21, 2025

Writing tools and supplies — including crayons, highlighters, pens, and pencils — have increased an average of 18.5% in the last 10 months.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

Each high school kit contained a large, three-ring binder, eight spiral-bound and two composition notebooks, two 12-packs of yellow pencils, a pack of highlighters, two packs of black ink pens and a set of earbuds.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 2, 2022

She blinked and added, “I have highlighters, too, if you need them.”

From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu

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