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 Wiener campaign described it as “the world’s first AI trained to say no to anything you ask,” intending to highlight her record on housing, transit, and other issues.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
The company said monitoring the bat boxes at the site helped confirm the conservation measures were working and could highlight "unexpected and valuable" results, like the Nathusius' pipistrelle.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Teaming them up as a testy odd couple allows “Lanterns” to both highlight Hal’s insecurity and use the Green Lantern universe’s rules to interrogate systemic imbalances.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Lutnick’s stop at Foxconn was part of a weeklong trip to promote increased American manufacturing, following events with Toyota and Ford to highlight increased auto production domestically.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Of course, as far as the little kids were concerned, the highlight of the whole party was not the birthday boy, Piper McNab, but the McNab’s new pillbox.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
Small highlights include being featured in a Reese Witherspoon carousel and Ashley Tisdale French gardening video on Instagram, the latter containing their other hit, “Aces.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The friction highlights the growing displeasure among Japan’s nuclear-armed neighbors at Tokyo’s plans to boost its defense capabilities and strengthen its military ties with the U.S., analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The research also highlights some of the difficulties scientists face when investigating ancient infectious diseases.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, and watch the latest episode of Look North.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Harriot, looking at the moon, saw the irregular terminator, the highlights and shadows, the mountain ranges and valleys that Galileo had described—and he also convinced himself that he saw Galileo’s imaginary crater.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Researchers also highlighted the role that online information may be playing.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
They also highlighted immense pressures on students in India, the world's most populous nation where admission to government-run colleges remains one of the most sought-after pathways to economic security.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
A Trades Union Congress report, external on Amazon issued in 2020 highlighted "long, gruelling shifts with unreasonable productivity targets and unfair shift patterns" and "unacceptable working conditions".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Robotti highlighted other advantages of offshore oil production.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
I thought of the highlighted Whitman: “If no other in the world be aware I sit content, / And if each and all be aware I sit content.”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
As diplomacy stalls between the decades-long foes, attacks in the Hormuz strait have continued, highlighting the continued risks to regional shipping.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
He had 30 shots on goal and made 30 key passes, highlighting his routes to points.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Artificial-intelligence startup Lovable has raised fresh funds at a $13.3 billion valuation, highlighting investor enthusiasm for vibe-coding tools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The fossil indicates that lineages closely related to the Euparkeriidae were also present in South America, highlighting the continent’s role in the early diversification of the relatives of dinosaurs and crocodiles.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 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.
