<?php

$dot_prod = "at the coast will reach the Douglas County coast";
$bold = array("coast", "the", "pass");
$unbold = array("county coast", "at the", "grants pass");
usort($unbold, function($a, $b) { return strlen($b) - strlen($a); });
usort($bold, function($a, $b) { return strlen($b) - strlen($a); });
$rx = "~\b(?:" . implode("|", $unbold) . ")\b(*SKIP)(*F)|\b(?:" . implode("|", $bold) . ")\b~i";
echo "$rx\n";
echo preg_replace($rx, "<b>$0</b>", $dot_prod);