connotation
the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning: A possible connotation of “home” is “a place of warmth, comfort, and affection.”
the act of connoting; the suggesting of an additional meaning for a word or expression, apart from its explicit meaning.
something suggested or implied by a word or thing, rather than being explicitly named or described: “Religion” has always had a negative connotation for me.
Logic. the set of attributes constituting the meaning of a term and thus determining the range of objects to which that term may be applied; comprehension; intension.
Origin of connotation
1Other words for connotation
Other words from connotation
- con·no·ta·tive [kon-uh-tey-tiv, kuh-noh-tuh-], /ˈkɒn əˌteɪ tɪv, kəˈnoʊ tə-/, con·no·tive, adjective
- con·no·ta·tive·ly, con·no·tive·ly, adverb
- non·con·no·ta·tive, adjective
- non·con·no·ta·tive·ly, adverb
- un·con·no·ta·tive, adjective
- Compare denotation.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use connotation in a sentence
An aerial image shows what appears to be a spa, roiling water apparently carrying no nasty connotations.
The Luxury Homes That Torture and Your Tax Dollars Built | Michael Daly | December 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt really is crazy that the word “feminist” can have negative connotations in 2014.
Natalie Dormer Talks ‘Hunger Games,’ Feminism, and Why ‘Game of Thrones’ Needs More Dick | Marlow Stern | November 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHugh Bonneville denies claims dog is being killed off due to the unfortunate connotations of its name, "Isis".
No, Downton Dog "Isis" Is Not Being Killed Off Because of Worries Over Jihadi Group | Tom Sykes | November 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs Armstrong writes, “It was not a ‘great objective something,’ but had imprecise connotations of obligation and taboo.”
Karen Armstrong’s New Rule: Religion Isn’t Responsible for Violence | Patricia Pearson | October 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe term has connotations of a category that he does not fall into.
These instructions have no connotations of the end of the world.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature | Moncure Daniel ConwayThe connotations of the name court are generally impressive.
The Man in Court | Frederic DeWitt WellsThere are connotations about the word challenge which are essentially dramatic.
The Man in Court | Frederic DeWitt WellsHe put down the word about which already such a host of new connotations had begun to cling.
The Messenger | Elizabeth RobinsThe education he had received was not exactly a frontier education with the usual connotations of that word.
Thomas Jefferson | Gilbert Chinard
British Dictionary definitions for connotation
/ (ˌkɒnəˈteɪʃən) /
an association or idea suggested by a word or phrase; implication
the act or fact of connoting
logic another name for intension (def. 1)
Derived forms of connotation
- connotative (ˈkɒnəˌteɪtɪv, kəˈnəʊtə-) or connotive, adjective
- connotatively or connotively, adverb
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
Cultural definitions for connotation
The meaning that a word suggests or implies. A connotation includes the emotions or associations that surround a word. For example, the word modern strictly means “belonging to recent times,” but the word's connotations can include such notions as “new, up to date, experimental.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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