connotation
noun
con·no·ta·tion
| \ ËkĂ€-nÉ-ËtÄ-shÉn
\
\
Definition of connotation
1a
: something suggested by a word or thing : implication
the connotations of comfort that surrounded that old chair
b
: the suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from the thing it explicitly names or describes
2
: the signification of something
⊠that abuse of logic which consists in moving counters about as if they were known entities with a fixed connotation.— William Ralph Inge
3
: an essential property or group of properties of a thing named by a term in logic â compare denotation
Keep scrolling for more
Other Words from connotation
connotational
\ ËkĂ€-nÉ-ËtÄ-shnÉl
, -shÉ-ná”l \
adjective
, -shÉ-ná”l \
adjective
Examples of connotation in a Sentence
Miuccia Prada, a connoisseur of vintage jewelry, has a collection of tiaras and subverts their formal connotations by wearing them for the day.
— Hamish Bowles, Vogue, March 1997
Suddenly, Hsun-ching brightened. "So this is propaganda?" Alison did not know that, in Chinese, the word for propaganda literally means to spread information, and does not carry any negative connotations.
— Mark Salzman, The Laughing Sutra, 1991
The word "evolution," with its connotation of unrolling, of progressive development, was not favored by Darwin; he preferred the bleak phrase "descent with modification" for his theory.
— John Updike, New Yorker, 30 Dec. 1985
a word with negative connotations
For many people, the word âfatâ has negative connotations.
The word âchildlikeâ has connotations of innocence.
See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Some words people have used to describe the VSCO aesthetic are preppy but laid-back, beachy, trendy and basic, though sometimes basic can be associated with negative connotations. — Jasmine Gomez, Seventeen, "Who Are the VSCO Girls Taking Over Social Media?," 15 Aug. 2019 The words are used interchangeably but have very different connotations. — Jill Ciment, Harper's magazine, "Then Again," 10 June 2019 The culture surrounding video games is often shrouded in stereotypes and negative connotations. — Laurel Deppen, The Courier-Journal, "Louisville gamer startup is changing the negative stereotypes around video games," 9 Aug. 2019 For now, e-girl might just be a synonym for being young, female, and very online, and therefore tied to whatever connotations those things hold. — Rebecca Jennings, Vox, "E-girls and e-boys, explained," 1 Aug. 2019 Also, the hippoâs symbolic connotations are particularâmarrying laziness, fatness, hunger, and cuteness with an undercurrent of danger. — Sophie Haigney, The New Yorker, "Should There Be an Emoji for Everything?," 22 July 2019 Unlike the explicitly Christian experiences of the Apollo astronauts, the overview effect is more of a spiritual phenomenon that is disconnected from any specific religious connotations. — Daniel Oberhaus, WIRED, "Spaceflight and Spirituality, a Complicated Relationship," 16 July 2019 Thatâs why, according to Jungian theory, references to rivers, hats, ravens, or wheat, for instance, have held strikingly similar connotations in artwork, literature, and dreams, across cultures and through time. — Lila Maclellan, Quartz at Work, "Get to know the symbolism in your daily commute," 11 July 2019 Why then has the word refugee acquired such negative connotations in our times? — Angelina Jolie, Time, "Angelina Jolie: What We Owe Refugees," 19 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'connotation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for connotation
connotation
noun
English Language Learners Definition of connotation
: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning
See the full definition for connotation in the English Language Learners Dictionary
Keep scrolling for more