highlight
Americanverb (used with object)
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highlights,
present (3rd person singular)
-
highlighted,
past participle, past
-
highlighting
present participle
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to emphasize or make prominent.
The lawsuit against the landlord highlighted the need for a stricter building code.
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to mark with a felt-tip highlighter.
I started highlighting the text (yellow for important ideas, blue for dates and facts), but I'm not sure it was productive in the long run.
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to create highlights in (a photograph or engraving).
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to dye (parts of the hair) lighter.
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to apply makeup to (the face) in places where light would naturally hit, to create a glowing effect.
After blending the foundation, highlight the cheekbones.
noun
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highlights
plural
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Sometimes high light an important, conspicuous, memorable, or enjoyable event, scene, part, or the like: the highlight of the concert series.
the highlight of his talk;
the highlight of the concert series.
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the area of most intense light on a represented form, as in a painting or photograph.
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Usually highlights a section of hair that has been dyed lighter.
noun
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an area of the lightest tone in a painting, drawing, photograph, etc
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the most exciting or memorable part of an event or period of time
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(often plural) a bleached blond streak in the hair
verb
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painting drawing photog to mark (any brightly illuminated or prominent part of a form or figure) with light tone
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to bring notice or emphasis to
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to be the highlight of
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to produce blond streaks in (the hair) by bleaching
Usage
What does highlight mean? To highlight something is to emphasize it or make it more prominent, as in Last class, the biology teacher highlighted the material we would need to know for the test. To highlight also means to mark something on paper with a highlighter. A highlighter is a felt-tipped pen with a soft, translucent color used to mark words and images on a printed page. Many students and readers highlight passages in textbooks and other materials to help them remember the passages better. A highlight is the best or most prominent part of something. You can often watch the highlights of a sporting event or TV show online. Your study notes might be just the highlights of your teacher’s lectures, and if you keep a journal or diary, you might only record the highlights of your day. Example: I try to highlight the best members of a community in my stories.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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highlightsimple
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highlightssimple
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have highlightedperfect
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has highlightedperfect
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am highlightingprogressive
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are highlightingprogressive
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is highlightingprogressive
-
have been highlightingperfect progressive
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has been highlightingperfect progressive
Past
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highlightedsimple
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had highlightedperfect
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was highlightingprogressive
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were highlightingprogressive
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had been highlightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of highlight
Explanation
If you missed the big game, don't worry — you can still catch the highlights on the news. A highlight is the most important or memorable part of something. If you don’t have time to listen to your friend’s long, involved story, you might say, "Just give me the highlights." Highlight can also mean "a lightness or a bright area." If someone puts highlights in their hair, they are adding bright streaks to their hair. When used as a verb, highlight means "to emphasize." You may want to highlight the best grades on a report card while downplaying the lesser ones.
Vocabulary lists containing highlight
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 2
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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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:
The volunteer service emphasied it was not criticising those it helped on Friday but rather was keen to highlight its general concerns.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Delta has gotten rid of Michel et Augustin shortbread square cookies, the highlight of the Comfort+ snack basket for me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
And we wanted to highlight what some of those struggles are gonna be because I don’t know that they’re gonna be reported in January.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
According to the researchers, the results highlight phosphate regulation and fat metabolism as especially promising areas for the development of future medicines.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
The Ceremony of Twelve, which would begin on the second morning, was always the highlight.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
The researchers say, "This finding highlights the steeper challenge faced by deconditioned populations."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
The Metro highlights the story of a mother whose "lad's still serving time after phone theft in 2005".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The saxophonist highlights previously unreleased recordings of his trio with tabla master Zakir Hussain, who died in 2024, and drummer Eric Harland on an album of marvelous musical interplay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
In response, Blair said in a social media post that this incident highlights general overcrowding issues at rescue sites brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
There was something richly appealing in her color combination, the ginger snaps floating in the milk-white skin, the gold highlights in the strawberry hair.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Knox gave tours of the renovations the school has undertaken, and the event also highlighted the soon-to-be football stadium and new basketball gym.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
There have been more leaks to the media than I've ever seen as a journalist and Ahmadzai's defence lawyer highlighted that this could be to the detriment of his presumption of innocence.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Ken Herbert at RBC Capital highlighted the stock’s valuation as a point in favor of the newly minted company.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
“The second quarter highlighted continued significant progress on our turnaround to strengthen the balance sheet, reduce leverage, and drive sustainable, profitable growth,” Chief Executive Josh Charlesworth said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Some of these paperbacks have been through a lot: pages tinted brown from coffee spills, dog-eared corners, highlighted paragraphs and pencil markings in the margins.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
“Maddie’s Secret” does an impressive job of highlighting the dangers of this kind of enabling.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Last summer, the Super Lig recorded the third-highest net transfer spend in world football behind only the Premier League and Saudi Pro League, highlighting the league's increasing ambition.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Six different codons encode arginine, highlighting its broad importance in protein production.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
Turkish-flagged boats carrying tourists are a constant presence along the waterfront, arriving and departing throughout the day, highlighting the steady flow of Turkish visitors to the Greek island.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
His hand was solid as a rock, and his dark Cealdish complexion was tanned even darker than usual, highlighting a few pale scars that ran over his knuckles and up his arms.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
