highlight
Americanverb (used with object)
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highlights,
present (3rd person singular)
-
highlighted,
past participle, past
-
highlighting
present participle
-
to emphasize or make prominent.
The lawsuit against the landlord highlighted the need for a stricter building code.
-
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:
Her stage highlight, by her account, was in a West End production of A Passionate Woman.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
“For us, another highlight is capex to potentially install a small copper circuit to process copper from the highly prospective Peake copper deposit” for around US$50 million, it says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
They also highlight the scientific importance of the Catalan fossil record for reconstructing the evolutionary history of vertebrates.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
“The most important change to highlight is the permission to feel like I deserve this help.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
The highlight would take place on Saturday with the dedication of the memorial, now widely known as “the Wall.”
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
“This event highlights the importance of training powerful AI models to act responsibly,” Heather Adkins, Google’s vice president of security engineering, said in a statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The report highlights small amounts of money raised through asset sales.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
But “The Pineapple” did wear me down, and it’s beautiful in the way it highlights the lonely anguish at the heart of Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
The failure to get a landmark bill through the Senate highlights the challenge facing lawmakers as they turn to technologies evolving considerably faster.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
We’d stroll, nice and slow, so I could tell him all that had happened each day, especially the highlights from recess.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Meanwhile, oil stockpiles continue dropping toward record lows, as highlighted by a new analysis from the S&P Global Energy Fuels and Refining team, which warned “winter is coming for diesel markets.”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
It also highlighted concerns that British Steel's 4,052 workers face uncertainty and the steel strategy is still vague about when the 50% target would be achieved.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
That study mapped changes associated with aging rather than testing a treatment, but it highlighted the hypothalamus as an important area for further investigation.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
They highlighted cases of police misuse elsewhere, such as officers stalking romantic partners, and explained how Flock’s system can create “heat maps,” showing where a vehicle has been over time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
She had arrived for rehearsal looking professional, all her lines highlighted in yellow.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Pantoja said Van has changed since December, highlighting the fight against Taira and noting the champion has refined aspects of his fighting style.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
In “Cinema”—the flashy “Star Wars” section highlighting storyboards, set photography, models, props and life-size dioramas starring costumed characters and their vehicles—the Lucas is most at home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
What happened: Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, took the stage in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday to honor R&B singer Chris Brown, delivering official congressional remarks highlighting his career.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
But he said, in conservation,"the glass is half empty and the glass is half full", highlighting the threat of poaching snares.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
By now it was dark, and the streetlights were like spotlights highlighting fire hydrants, and kids out after curfew.
From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds
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.
