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emotive meaning

American

noun

the emotional connotation of a word or expression that is used instead of one having a similar meaning but less affective quality, as the connotation of “murder” when used instead of “homicide” or “drunk” instead of “inebriated.”

Etymology

Origin of emotive meaning

First recorded in 1940–45

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.