highlife

American  

[hahy-lahyf] / ˈhaɪˌlaɪf /

noun

1. an expensive, glamorous, or elegant style of living.

---

highlife British  

/ ˈhaɪˌlaɪf /

noun

1. 1. a style of music combining West African elements with US jazz forms, found esp in the cities of West Africa

   2. ( as modifier )

      a highlife band

---

Etymology

Origin of highlife

First recorded in 1755–65; high + life

Example Sentences

Nigerian writer and poet Dami Ajayi described him as a "highlife maestro" and a "fantastic guitarist".

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

Tributes have been pouring in from across Ghana and the world since the death of Ghanaian highlife legend Ebo Taylor.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

The DNA of highlife can be heard in Afrobeat's melodic sensibility and its balance between groove and sophistication.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026

The band's name, Osibisa, comes from a word in the Fante language, meaning "highlife".

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2025

Once he’d committed himself to music in his late teens, he threw himself into Idonije’s five-digit record collection, flipping highlife, afrobeat and jazz vinyls on the turntable for hours in his garage.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 16, 2023