highlife

noun

high·​life ˈhī-ˌlīf How to pronounce highlife (audio)
: dance music of west African origin that combines syncopated African rhythms with elements of jazz

Examples of highlife in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Rema isn’t the only star soundtracking raves this season, as Amaarae honors dance music from the Black diaspora by borrowing from her native Ghanaian highlife, Brazilian baile funk, Jersey club and more for her third studio album Black Star. Heran Mamo, Billboard, 29 Aug. 2025 Afrobeats can be thought of as modern Nigerian and Ghanaian pop that employs local styles like highlife or fuji, some signature polyrhythmic drum patterns, and often other Black music like hip-hop, R&B, and dancehall. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2025 At 90, the Ghanaian highlife pioneer Ebo Taylor finds a new voice. Sopan Deb, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025 With more than 4 billion streams of his own hits and collaborations with superstars like Beyoncé and Bad Bunny, the pioneer of Banku music—an Afrobeats subgenre that mixes Ghanaian highlife with Nigerian chord progressions—is setting the stage for something even bigger. Lee Middleton, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for highlife

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of highlife was in 1942

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Cite this Entry

“Highlife.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highlife. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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