spotlight
Americannoun
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a strong, focused light thrown upon a particular spot, as on a small area of a stage or in a television studio, for making some object, person, or group especially conspicuous.
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a lamp for producing such a light.
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a brilliant light with a focused beam, mounted on the side of an automobile and used for illuminating objects not within range of the headlights.
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the area of immediate or conspicuous public attention.
Asia is in the spotlight now.
verb (used with object)
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to direct the beam of a spotlight upon; light with a spotlight.
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to make conspicuous; call attention to.
Newspapers spotlighted the story for a week.
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to hunt (animals) using a spotlight in order to temporarily blind or confuse them.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a powerful light focused so as to illuminate a small area, usually mounted so that it can be directed at will
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the focus of attention
verb
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to direct a spotlight on
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to focus attention on
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
spotlightsimple
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spotlightssimple
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have spotlightedperfect
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have spotlitperfect
-
has spotlightedperfect
-
has spotlitperfect
-
am spotlightingprogressive
-
are spotlightingprogressive
-
is spotlightingprogressive
-
have been spotlightingperfect progressive
-
has been spotlightingperfect progressive
Past
-
spotlightedsimple
-
spotlitsimple
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had spotlightedperfect
-
had spotlitperfect
-
was spotlightingprogressive
-
were spotlightingprogressive
-
had been spotlightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spotlight
Explanation
A spotlight is a bright beam of light that shines on people on stage. Actors and rock stars love spending time in the spotlight when they’re performing, but if they’re famous they’re in the spotlight all the time. If you star in the school play, you'll be in a literal spotlight, illuminated on the stage while you sing your big solo number. If some day you're elected President of the United States, you'll be in a figurative spotlight, at the center of intense attention by the public. You can also call this limelight. Lighting experts often call spotlights followspots.
Vocabulary lists containing spotlight
Theater - Introductory
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Theater - Middle School
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Theater - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Powell said he was going to “keep his head down” as a governor, and this would thrust him into the spotlight.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
A possible rate hike in September by the Federal Reserve is also back in the spotlight, the analyst says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The misconduct investigation has put the institution under a glaring spotlight, intensified divisions inside it and played out alongside an unprecedented campaign to weaken, and in fact dismantle, the ICC in its entirety.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Turns out, the city of stars is shining just for him; it just took a decade for his hand to find the spotlight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The little taxi rocked on tall waves, and the boys were temporarily blinded by a Gold spotlight shining through the raindrops.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
This poignant exhibition at the University of Cambridge spotlights work made during or after violent conflict, ranging from World War I ‘trench art’ to artifacts from the current war in Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Swaying spotlights atop the massive stage swayed back in forth like searchlights in a storm.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
The table below spotlights the four stocks mentioned earler, which are reporting earnings next week.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
The doc spotlights one of the most improvisational and dynamic players ever, soccer’s Magic Johnson.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
There were sites for the spotlights and the dresses and the endoscopy kits, and she sent them in flurries.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
The bolero genre’s popularity and cultural significance has been spotlighted outside of L.A. in recent years as well.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
While the decade’s counterculture gets most of the press, some of the best pop spotlighted more intimate stories set in America’s heartland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
The justice did more than accuse her colleagues of misapplying the law; she also spotlighted their refusal to defend their actions, suggesting that they stayed silent because they had no defense.
From Slate ● Mar. 17, 2026
The exhibition also spotlighted India's diverse range of high-quality hardwoods such as teak, rosewood and ebony, and the country's deeply-rooted traditions of intricate handcrafting by local artisans.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
The long battering ram lay unguarded, conveniently spotlighted by the rats’ abandoned torches.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
That was the earliest memory I have of actually seeing a Deaf person being kind of spotlit, in any way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2025
Behind its chain-link fence, I can see the headquarters of the company that contracts with the county to maintain the roads, its darkened windows, the American flag on the flagpole spotlit, dangling.
From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2023
One species in particular gets spotlit in the new report: beavers.
From The Verge ● Dec. 14, 2021
The show is titled “The Journey Home,” and it is not small: more than two dozen paintings, works on paper and overpainted photographs, installed across two floors, melodramatically spotlit.
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2021
It was also being spotlit by 1441 L St. I stood in the iridescent shaft and delighted in the shadow I cast.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2019
Typically, the messaging about the sporting event spotlighting the country’s greatness comes from the top down.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
ESA's Mars Express mission is spotlighting Shalbatana Vallis this month, an enormous Martian valley marked by evidence of ancient water, volcanic activity, impact craters, and collapsed terrain.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026
An exhibition spotlighting one of the world's most valuable rare books has opened in Glasgow.
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
And this past March she shared her story of breaking free from labor exploitation for a campaign spotlighting Asian immigrant women.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Whether or not museums chose to change the wall labels next to some of Vermeer’s paintings, the public had done an amazing job of spotlighting any possible fraud.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
