Denotations and Connotations

Denotation Connotation
 A word’s denotation is  A word’s connotation
its literal meaning – is the feelings and
that is, the definition ideas associated with a
you find in a word.
dictionary.
Denotation and Connotation
 Using a thesaurus, you can find
words that have similar
denotations but different
connotations.
 For example: If you looked up
the word smile in a thesaurus,
you would likely find the
vocabulary word smirk listed
as a synonym. Smile and
smirk have similar denotations
but different connotations.
 Smile suggests happiness, while
smirk suggests a smugness (an
offensive self-satisfaction)
 When someone smiles at us, we
have a happy emotion. Happy
emotions are positive, so the word
smile has a positive connotation.
 When someone smirks at us, we
have a sad or maybe a mad
emotion. Sad or mad emotions are
negative, so the word smirk has a
negative connotation.
Denotation and Connotation
Other examples:
 Slim and Skinny both relate to being thin in size.
However, slim has a positive connotation while
skinny has a negative connotation.
 Slim reminds me of someone that is fit and trim.
While Skinny reminds me of someone that is
undernourished.