Highlights

How to spell highlights

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce highlights

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does highlights mean?

1. nounThe most interesting, important, or memorable parts of an event or period.
2. nounStreaks of lighter colour added to a person's hair.
3. verbDraws attention to something or emphasises it (third person singular).

Highlights in a sentence

• noun

  The match highlights aired on the late evening news.

• noun

  The salon charged extra for the blonde highlights in her hair.

• verb

  The audit highlights several weaknesses in the current system.

• noun

  Her holiday photos captured all the highlights of the trip.

• noun

  Subtle caramel highlights brightened his dark brown fringe.

• verb

  A yellow marker highlights the key clauses in the contract.

Where does highlights come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound, joining the native words 'high' and 'light', both of which descend from Old English (heah and leoht respectively) and share roots across the Germanic languages. The original literal use, dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, referred to the brightest spots in a painting or drawing, the places where a 'high' amount of 'light' falls and the surface seems to gleam. From that artistic sense it spread by metaphor to mean the most brilliant or memorable parts of an event, a season, or a performance. The hairdressing sense, lighter streaks added to brighten the hair, grew from the same idea of catching the light. Because the word is built from two everyday pieces and keeps the silent 'gh' that English inherited from older spellings, the only real trap is remembering that 'gh' even though it is no longer pronounced.

How the word is built

• high (elevated, prominent)
• light (illumination, brightness)
• -s (plural/third-person suffix)