A passage highlight is a multi-sentence selection within a document, distinguished from a phrase-level highlight by spanning a complete unit of thought (often a paragraph).
Why it matters
The phrase 'machine learning' isn't useful as a highlight; the paragraph explaining 'why this regulator's stance shifted' is. Passage highlights are the format consultants and analysts actually want — quotable, citable, complete.
Tools that default to phrase highlights (most browser extensions) produce noisy collections; tools that nudge passage selection (Readwise's typography hints, Pith's UI design) produce libraries that pay off later.
How Pith relates
Pith's highlight UI defaults to passage-level selection. Briefings and wiki pages prefer passage-highlights over phrase-highlights when both are available for the same source.
See also
Last reviewed: 10 May 2026 · Licensed CC BY 4.0 · cite freely with attribution to Pith.