Connotation is what a phrase means, however it’s not its definition.

Belief us, it isn’t as complicated because it sounds.

Take into consideration the distinction between describing anyone as infantile versus childlike. Each phrases examine the particular person with a toddler. However whereas infantile attracts consideration to their immaturity, childlike emphasizes traits like innocence and a way of surprise. That’s as a result of infantile and childlike have completely different connotations.

What does connotation imply?

Connotation, pronounced kah-nuh-tay-shn, means “one thing urged by a phrase or factor.” It’s the picture a phrase evokes past its literal definition.

Connotation is a noun. Right here it’s in a sentence:

I averted utilizing the phrase “pressing” due to its connotation.

Use connotation when discussing phrases’ meanings, particularly how they’re understood, interpreted, and chosen in relation to a message’s tone. Synonyms for connotation embody implication, undertone, and undercurrent.

Easy methods to use connotation in your writing

Once you use the phrase connotation in your writing, you might be commenting on how a selected phrase or phrase is often understood. You’re discussing the nuance of that phrase and the way it shapes the reader’s or listener’s understanding of your phrases. You may end up utilizing this phrase in analytical essays to debate what the authors got down to talk via their works and the way you interpreted it. Connotations of phrases basically “taste” the textual content, typically giving it the subjectivity that separates a story from a primary story plot. As an essay author, you may make use of this technique in response essays, private essays, and when crafting rhetorical questions.

Appropriate methods to make use of connotation

Don’t use connotation to explain a phrase’s literal which means. Equally, don’t use it to outline a phrase or to explain an alternate definition. For instance, you wouldn’t write {that a} connotation for palate, a phrase usually used to imply “the roof of the mouth,” is “one’s capacity to detect and savor a spread of flavors.” These are each denotations (or literal meanings) of palate.

As a substitute, use connotation to notice how a phrase is known. Listed here are a couple of examples of the phrase connotation in sentences:

• We selected to call our wholesome snack enterprise Backyard Goodies as a result of “backyard” has a connotation of freshness.
• Euphemisms are sometimes makes an attempt to keep away from phrases’ adverse connotations.

Listed here are a couple of sentences that use connotation incorrectly:

• They stated they’d be too busy to play soccer subsequent semester, giving the connotation that they have been taking a heavy course load.
• Local weather change generally is a polarizing matter, and there’s a number of connotation surrounding it.

Within the first sentence, the phrase implication could be right rather than connotation. Within the second sentence, the phrase nuance could be a better option.

Connotation vs. denotation

A phrase’s connotation is the other of its denotation. Denotation refers to a phrase’s literal definition. Listed here are a couple of examples of connotation and denotation in sentences:

• Her signal stated “Will work for meals,” and the connotation, that she was hungry, was clear.
• I needed to search for an unfamiliar phrase to search out its denotation.

5 examples of connotation

• As a substitute of claiming he’d been “fired,” which has the connotation that he’d carried out his job poorly, he instructed us he’d been “let go.”
• To speak the scale of my textbook, I described it as a “tome” due to the phrase’s connotation.
• As a substitute of promoting that “kids are welcome,” the restaurant describes itself as “household pleasant” due to the phrase’s heat connotation.
• Typically, phrases have completely different connotations throughout dialects. For instance, “trousers” has a unique connotation in the US than it does in the UK.
• Whereas “clique” and “group” imply the identical factor, “clique” has a adverse connotation as a result of it implies an exclusivity that “group” doesn’t.

Connotation FAQs

What does connotation imply?

Merriam-Webster’s definition of connotation is the suggesting of a which means by a phrase other than the factor it explicitly names or describes.

When must you use the phrase connotation?

Use the phrase connotation if you’re discussing the picture a phrase evokes, significantly when this picture isn’t explicitly a part of the phrase’s definition.

What’s the distinction between connotation and denotation?

Connotation refers to a phrase’s implied which means. Denotation refers to its literal which means.