highlighter

noun

high·​light·​er ˈhī-ˌlī-tər 

plural highlighters

1

: a cosmetic for making facial features (such as the cheekbones) appear lighter or brighter

To enhance her natural beauty, the former model's complexion is glowing with a light, iridescent highlighter on her cheeks and a clear, glittery gloss on her lips.

—Nicole Saunders

2

: a pen with a broad felt tip and brightly colored transparent ink for marking selected passages in a text

At least 100 publications, from newspapers to scientific journals, come into the building daily, and the editors' scissors and highlighters are never idle.

—Keith Henderson

Examples of highlighter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Editor's tip: The champagne shade also acts as a non-pore-enhancing, mirror-like face highlighter. —Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 13 Aug. 2024

Related Articles The serendipitous moment happened eight months ago, and that small idea has now turned into six products including blushes, highlighters, lip glosses, micellar water, a primer and SPF. —Hikmat Mohammed, WWD, 30 July 2024

The organizer has five large-capacity individual compartments to hold your office accessories, such as pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, rulers, scissors, letter openers and other desktop gadgets. —Nora Colomer, Fox News, 30 July 2024

Editor's tip: Chanel recommends applying the deeper shade to build intensity on your brows and the lighter shade as a highlighter on your cheekbones, brow bone, tip of the nose, and Cupid's bow. —Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 13 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

highlighter

noun

high·​light·​er

: a pen with a broad felt tip and brightly colored transparent ink for marking selected passages in a text