Definition:
The emotional implications and associations that a word may carry, in contrast to its denotative meanings. Verb: connote. Adjective: connotative.
See also:
- Choosing the Best Words: Denotations and Connotations
- The Connotative Power of Words
- Associative Meaning
- Denotation
- Dysphemism
- Euphemism
- Glittering Generalities
- Loaded Words
- Orthophemism
- Paradiastole
- Reflected Meaning
- Semantics
- Snarl Words & Purr Words
- Writers on Writing: Ten Tips for Finding the Right Words
Etymology:
From the Latin, "mark"Examples and Observations:
- Happy: So why do they call him "The Joker"?
Dopey: I heard he wears make-up.
Happy: Make-up?
Dopey: Yeah, to scare people. You know, war paint.
(William Smillie and Michael Stoyanov in The Dark Knight, 2008) - "In the East the wilderness has no evil connotation; it is thought of as an expression of the unity and harmony of the universe."
(William O. Douglas) - "There's a certain light connotation attached to the word 'panties.' Can we find another name for them?"
(Joseph N. Welch as Judge Weaver in Anatomy of a Murder, 1959) - "'Stimulus is Washington talk,' said Rahm Emanuel, the coming White House chief of staff with a sandpapered-fingertip sensitivity to the familiar connotation of words. 'Economic recovery is how the American people think of it.'"
(William Safire, "Recovery." The New York Times, Dec. 12, 2008) - Synonyms and Connotations
"A group of synonyms cannot by definition be distinguished in terms of their denotation, but they usually display noticeable differences of connotation, as in the case of car, automobile, runabout, buggy, banger, bus, hot rod, jalopy, old crock, racer, and so on."
(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003) - A Rose by Any Other Name
Mr. Powers: Jones. I don't like that name. It's going to handicap you, young man. Now wait a minute. I've got some sort of a name here. Yes. Haverstock. Huntley Haverstock. Sounds a little more important, don't you think, Mr. Fisher?
Mr. Fisher: Oh, yes, yes. Very dashing.
Mr. Powers: . . . Well, speak up young man. You don't mind being Huntley Haverstock, do you?
Johnny Jones: A rose by any name, sir.
(Harry Davenport, George Sanders, and Joel McCrea in Foreign Correspondent, 1940) - "What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O! be some other name:
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
(Juliet in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare) - Lisa: "A rose by any other name smells as sweet."
Bart: Not if you call them "Stench Blossoms."
(The Simpsons) - "Light" Cigarettes
"Altria said it had used terms like 'light' as well as packaging colors to connote different tastes, not safety. But study after study--including ones by the industry disclosed in tobacco lawsuits--has shown consumers believe the terms and colors connote a safer product."
(Duff Wilson, "Coded to Obey Law, Lights Become Marlboro Gold." The New York Times, Feb. 18, 2010) - Reservation
"The name reservation has a negative connotation among Native Americans--an intern camp of sorts."
(John Russell) - Tribe
"Since 'tribe' has assumed a connotation of primitiveness or backwardness, it is suggested that the use of 'nation' or 'people' replace the term whenever possible in referring to Native American peoples."
(R. B. Moore, "Racism in the English Language," in The Production of Reality, ed. J. O'Brien, 2005) - Socialism and Capitalism
"[For many], socialism implies egalitarianism and that people are living for society, while capitalism has been given the connotation of materialism, 'greedy,' 'selfish,' 'self-serving,' and so on."
(Milton Friedman) - Denotation and Connotation in a Poem by E.A. Robinson
In the following poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, distinguish between the denotative and connotative meanings of the words in italics.
Richard Cory (1897)
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich--yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
Pronunciation: kon-no-TAY-shun
Also Known As: affective meaning
