Denotation and Connotation

​Denotation and Connotation

Definitions and examples

Definition: The dictionary definition of a word.

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Anytime there is no positive or negative association with a word, and it is taken for what its definition is.​

Example:

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​If you say House and you mean that it is a house.

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Denotation

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​Connotation

Definition: The positive or negative emotional meaning of a word.

Examples: If you say some one is aged it sounds better than calling them a geezer.

The word residence means the same as the word home, but home has a more personal feel than residence.​

Multiple Choice

Which of the following words has the worst connotation for this sentence?

I was ___________ by a car.

• scraped

• brushed

• nicked

• struck

Say you're trying to take someone to court for hitting you with their car... if you use the term struck its negative connotation will help your case.

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Why?

Often the word struck is used in legal speak by lawyers no matter the level of the strike. When cars a scraped or completely collided into.

Struck:​

​Struck has the worst connotation.

The other words make it seem like less of a hit.

​Negative examples:

BASIC:

If someone uses the denotative meaning of basic, it isn't that bad. Basic means regular. But, if I said, You're basic. Now, I'm insulting you, because it has a different connotative meaning.

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Open Ended

Write down two words that I haven't used yet, that have extremely similar denotative meanings but different connotative meanings.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following has the most positive connotative meaning for this sentence? Tomorrow we will vote for a new __________.

• politician

• leader

• legislator

• lawmaker

Why leader?

Leader signifies that this person leads others, which means they stand in front of the group.

Legislator and Lawmaker have less emotion attached to them.

Politician has become a negatively connotative word in our society.​

Draw

Draw two pictures in the box, one of an aged person and one of an old geezer.

Multiple Choice

What word has the most negative connotation?

• Car

• Automobile

• Wheels

• Clunker

Clunker

When you think of a car, automobile, or even of your wheels, you think of just any car.

When you think of a clunker, its a run down beat up car.​

Subject | Subject

Multiple Choice

Which word has the most negative connotation?

• Gentleman

• Buddy

• Brother

• Guy

Guy

This is a harder one, because guy isn't all that negative, but gentleman carries a weight of respect, and the other two carry a weight of friendship. Guy is just a guy.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

What is the definition of denotation?

• The positive emotional meaning of a word.

• The negative emotional meaning of a word

• The dictionary definition of a word

• The capital of Denmark