4.4.

Connotation And Denotation

Connotation
Connotation refers to the associations, or positive or negative feelings, which a lexical item evokes. It is an
idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning, e.g. the
word discipline has unhappy connotations of punishment and repression for some people.
Words may have positive or negative connotations.
For example, consider the words childish, childlike and youthful. They have much the same literal meaning,
but they have different connotative meanings. Childish and childlike have a negative connotation as they often
refer to the immature behaviour of a person. On the other hand, youthful implies that a person is lively and
energetic.
Here are some other examples. Cultural and emotional associations shape their suggested meanings:

 A dove has connotations of peace or gentility.

 Hollywood connotes such things as glamour, celebrity, and dreams of stardom.
 Home suggests family, comfort and security.
 Politician often has a negative connotation of insincerity while statesperson connotes sincerity.
 Pushy refers to someone loud-mouthed and irritating.

‘Strong-willed‘ and ‘pig-headed‘ have much the same literal meaning – ‘stubborn‘.
However, strongwilled connotes some degree of admiration for the level of someone’s will and drive (a
positive connotation), while pig-headed connotes frustration in dealing with someone (a negative connotation).

Denotation
Denotation is typically defined as the literal meaning or dictionary meaning of a word in contrast to its
connotative or associated meanings. If we compare the following two statements with the first two examples
above, you’ll see the difference between connotation and denotation:
A dove denotes any of the various birds of the family Columbidae, having a heavy body, small head, short legs,
and long pointed wings: order Columbiformes. They are typically smaller than pigeons.
Hollywood denotes a NW suburb of Los Angeles, California: the centre of the American film industry. In
literary works, it is common practice for writers to deviate from the dictionary meanings of words to create
fresher ideas and images. Even in our daily conversation, we diverge from the dictionary meanings of words
and prefer connotative or associated meanings of words to convey our message better.