Meaning & use
high vis
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Describing clothing or equipment in a very bright color, often with reflective strips, that makes the wearer easy to see.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a high vis jacket, not a jacket that is high vis.
Patterns
- high vis jacket
- high vis vest
Every worker on the site must wear a high vis jacket.
The cyclist put on a high vis vest before riding home in the dark.
Road crews in high vis clothing were repairing the lane.
nouncountable or uncountableinformal
A bright reflective jacket or vest worn for safety, or such clothing in general.
Grammar: Countable for one garment: grab a high vis; uncountable for the clothing in general: wear high vis.
Patterns
- wear high vis
- put on a high vis
Don't forget your high vis before you step onto the platform.
The builders all turned up in high vis.
Word forms
| plural | high vises |
|---|
Common combinations
- wear high vis
- Visitors must wear high vis near the machinery.
- high vis jacket
- He left his high vis jacket in the van.
- high vis vest
- The marshals handed out a high vis vest to each volunteer.
- high vis clothing
- The company supplies high vis clothing to all staff.
- fluorescent high vis
- The fluorescent high vis was easy to spot from far away.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hi-vis
- Hi-vis is just another spelling of the same word and is equally informal.
- high-visibility clothing
- High-visibility clothing is the full, formal name, suited to safety rules and notices.
- reflective jacket
- Reflective jacket stresses the shiny strips, whereas high vis also covers bright fluorescent color.
- safety vest
- Safety vest is the more general American term and does not always imply bright color.
Word family
- visibility noun
- how easily something can be seen
- visible adjective
- able to be seen
- visibly adverb
- in a way that can be seen
Commonly confused: high vis or high profile?
high vis vs high profile
High profile means receiving a lot of public attention, while high vis refers literally to being easy to see because of bright clothing.
Practice
Before walking along the motorway hard shoulder, the engineer put on a ____ jacket.
Choose one answer.
A high vis jacket is bright and reflective for safety. High rise describes tall buildings, so it is a tempting but wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “high vis”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.