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.
Words Nearby connotation
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use connotation in a sentence
The “game manager” label carries a negative connotation, but Smith is one of the NFL’s best at protecting the ball.
Washington football preview: Alex Smith on track to start vs. Eagles with playoffs on the line | Nicki Jhabvala | January 2, 2021 | Washington PostEven the word audit itself has a lot of negative connotations, and that’s understandable.
The key to future election security starts with a roll of the dice | Bobbie Johnson | December 16, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewThe terms diverged when we filtered just for ones with negative connotations.
Amazon’s new health band is the most invasive tech we’ve ever tested | Geoffrey Fowler, Heather Kelly | December 10, 2020 | Washington PostWhilst only 7% of queries will be impacted in initial roll-out, further expansion of this new passage indexing system could have much bigger connotations than one might first suspect.
Could Google passage indexing be leveraging BERT? | Dawn Anderson | October 29, 2020 | Search Engine LandThis is not an example of AI taking away jobs and that more negative connotations that you get when you talk about AI and business.
How AI will revolutionize manufacturing | Jason Sparapani | September 29, 2020 | MIT Technology Review
But that has never struck me as terribly apt or helpful, despite its obviously negative connotation.
In case the connotation is lost, “Theater Kid” is not a good thing here.
“Linda Perry-style,” of course, carries with it a history and a very specific connotation.
Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield examines the negative connotation of the phrase and turns it into an affirmation.
Will Ferrell Soccer Speech, Cliff Dive Slip ‘N Slides, and More Viral Videos | Alex Chancey | June 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt has this crazy negative connotation that I never understood.
To fix the connotation of a concrete name, or the denotation of the corresponding abstract, is to define the name.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive | John Stuart MillWhy, I should say it means 'skilful, clever,' and it carries with it the connotation of 'novel.'
Riders of the Silences | John FrederickThey had been diverted from their hereditary connotation to signify impressions for which Nature did not intend them.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles | Thomas HardyThis term one may accept as technically correct without necessarily accepting the sinister connotation imputed to it by labor.
A History of Trade Unionism in the United States | Selig PerlmanThe specific difference is that which must be added to the connotation of the genus to complete the connotation of the species.
Analysis of Mr. Mill's System of Logic | William Stebbing
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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