highlight
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Apply a highlighter to one's cheeks or eyebrows to make them more prominent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hylytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhaɪlaɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Apply a highlighter to one's cheeks or eyebrows in order to make them more prominent
“Highlight the area above your eyebrows.”
Move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent
“The introduction highlighted the speaker's distinguished career in linguistics.”
transitive
To make prominent; emphasize.
transitive
To mark (important passages of text), e.g. with a fluorescent marker pen or in a wordprocessor, as a means of memory retention or for later reference.
transitive
To dye (part of the hair) a different color than the rest.
noun
figurative
An especially significant or interesting detail or event or period of time.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Apply a highlighter to one's cheeks or eyebrows in order to make them more prominent
Used this way, highlight is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Highlight the area above your eyebrows.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use highlight
- “The introduction highlighted the speaker's distinguished career in linguistics.”verb
- “The highlight of the tour was our visit to the Vatican.”noun
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
An area of lightness in a picture.
A cosmetic used to highlight the eyes or cheekbones.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.