connote
Americanverb (used with object)
-
connotes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
connoted,
past participle, past
-
connoting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
connotes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
connoted,
past participle, past
-
connoting
present participle
verb
-
(of a word, phrase, etc) to imply or suggest (associations or ideas) other than the literal meaning
the word "maiden" connotes modesty
-
to involve as a consequence or condition
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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connotesimple
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connotessimple
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have connotedperfect
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has connotedperfect
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am connotingprogressive
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are connotingprogressive
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is connotingprogressive
-
have been connotingperfect progressive
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has been connotingperfect progressive
Past
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connotedsimple
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had connotedperfect
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was connotingprogressive
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were connotingprogressive
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had been connotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of connote
1645–55; < Medieval Latin connotāre, equivalent to Latin con- con- + notāre to note
Compare meaning
How does connote compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Often your body language can connote or imply how you feel without you having to saying it directly. For example, if you fold your arms and look away from someone as he speaks to you, you are connoting your discomfort. When you act a certain way to show how you feel rather than just outright saying it, you're connoting or suggesting that emotion. Words can often connote or suggest certain meanings or ideas. The word turbulent connotes the image of a bumpy ride on an airplane, for example. Connote is also used in formal logic. If A connotes B, then for A to be true, B has to also be true.
Vocabulary lists containing connote
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
By the end, Veloso brought in a Steadicam to connote that Robert has found more peace in his later years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
He claimed her firing was “for cause,” a term whose precise legal meaning hasn’t been adjudicated but is widely interpreted to connote gross malfeasance or some such offense in office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
Twitter was a good name, even if the site didn’t connote positive things for many people.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2023
It didn't necessarily connote or imply a state of psychological unease.
From Salon ● May 29, 2023
Nor do either of those terms connote the courage people in such pains exemplify, which is why I’d ask you to frame your mental health around a word other than crazy.”
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
Hitchcock telescopes the debate over art versus virtue, making the point that aesthetic refinement by no means connotes morality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Prediction marketers tell courts that the CFTC’s lack of objections connotes tacit approval.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2025
Moreover, this assistance is limited to “federal purposes,” a term that typically connotes the protection of federal personnel or property.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2025
“The Handmaid’s Tale’s” Season 6 co-showrunner Yahlin Chang says the word “dystopia” usually connotes overgrown trees and disaster zones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
Never believe this bird connotes Jade whorls of carven commonness: Nor as from ordinary throats Slides his sharp song in ice-strung stress.
From A Tree with a Bird in it: a symposium of contemporary american poets on being shown a pear-tree on which sat a grackle by Margaret Widdemer
For a half-century, the Wasserman name connoted power—in Hollywood and in Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026
It did, but this is a spinoff of the Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck hit anthology series, its differences connoted in the last few letters of the shows’ titles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
It could also have been gluten-free breaded chicken or free-range chicken—anything that connoted being fancy or unusually expensive.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2022
In Maya cosmology, Dr. Scherer explained, flint connoted warfare and the sun or sky; obsidian, darkness and sacrifice.
From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2022
The man before them was noble in appearance, and the shadows played across the planes of his face in a way that made their angles harden; his aspect connoted dignity.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
The RF’s is a “buttress” roof form, connoting the “flying” buttresses of Gothic architecture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
If you think you’ve got a better word connoting misery that begins with the letter “B,” contact your nearest headline writer immediately.
From Slate ● May 14, 2024
Dubbed “Governor Moonbeam” by Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, who was no fan, Brown took it as a compliment, connoting vision and a willingness to dream.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
She likes to call such works “projects,” the term connoting both something about their scale — they are massive, often unable to be exhibited in a single show — and also her long-term, iterative process.
From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2022
There was a screen, connoting dying, around Johnny’s bed.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
