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highlife

American

[hahy-lahyf] / ˈhaɪˌlaɪf /

noun

an expensive, glamorous, or elegant style of living.

highlife British

/ ˈhaɪˌlaɪf /

noun

1. a style of music combining West African elements with US jazz forms, found esp in the cities of West Africa
2. ( as modifier )
  
  a highlife band

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of highlife

First recorded in 1755–65; high + life

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.

Tributes have been pouring in from across Ghana and the world since the death of Ghanaian highlife legend Ebo Taylor.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

His grooves were sampled by hip-hop and R&B artists and helped introduce new global audiences to Ghanaian highlife.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

Born Deroy Taylor in the city of Cape Coast in 1936, he rose to prominence during the late 1950s and early 1960s as highlife became Ghana's dominant musical form.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026

Together, they ripped the genre rulebook to shreds, magpie-ing elements of Afrobeat, hip-hop, grime, reggae, Latin, R&B, highlife and jazz to create a sound that bulges with possibility.

From BBC • Jan. 8, 2025

Aimed to highlight “regional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions,” genres including Afrobeats, amapiano, highlife, alte, fuji and kwassa will be eligible for nomination.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023