connotation
What is Connotation? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples
Connotation Definition
Connotation (kon-oh-TAY-shun) is the cultural or emotional association related to a word that extends beyond its dictionary definition. Many words are synonymous but have different emotional effects, impacting the reader in a distinct way. Connotation may also vary based on reader background, as people with particular life experiences or living in diverse culturs may respond to certain words in distinct ways.
The word derives from the Latin word connotare, meaning “to mark along with” or “to mark in addition.”
Examples of Connotation
Connotation can be positive, negative, or neutral. Positive connotations elicit a favorable emotional response, while negative connotations cause the opposite, unfavorably depicting the person or thing described. Neutral connotations indicate words that simply bring their definitions to mind, not causing an emotional response one way or another.
Here are a few examples of connotation:
- Assertive versus bossy—Although both words indicate leadership and initiative, assertive suggests confidence and bossy suggests that the person is overbearing. A neutral version of both words is commanding.
- Thrifty versus stingy—Both refer to someone who is careful with money or resources, but thrifty suggests someone who isn’t wasteful while stingy suggests someone who’s deliberately ungenerous. A word with a neutral connotation is economical.
- Protest versus riot—These terms refer to a public, collective expression of dissent. But, protest is often perceived as more peaceful and sympathetic in nature whereas a riot suggests a violent and potentially unjustified form of dissent. The word demonstration is a neutral option.
Why Writers Use Connotation
The main reason writers use connotation is to cause a particular emotional response in readers without explicitly telling them what to feel. As a result, connotation develops a story’s imagery by providing a more visceral description of characters or situations, develops characters and their intentions by depicting them as sympathetic and trustworthy or not, and represents abstract ideas in more tangible ways by allowing the audience to rely on feeling.
Using diction, or word choice, to select connotative words, authors can alter the tone, mood, and voice of the overall work or character dialogue, persuading audiences to see the text as intended. For example, the difference in tone and mood between the phrase “a unique aroma wafting from the cellar” and “a strange odor emanating from the basement” can cause very distinct responses in readers. Authors may even use positive connotation to disguise a character who is actually the antagonist, causing readers to overlook their subtler, negative traits until the truth is revealed.
However, connotation is a double-edged sword; the wrong word choice can offend or alienate readers, causing a misinterpretation of the author’s message. Writers must take care with word choice to ensure the way they write isn’t obscuring the text’s message.
Connotation and Other Literary Devices
Connotation is often compared to, confused with, and connected to several literary devices. The following are the most common literary devices associated with connotation.
Connotation vs. Denotation
While connotation refers to the emotional weight of a word, denotation is the definition of that word.
Connotation vs. Symbolism
Symbolism and connotation are similar in that both can express abstract concepts, but symbolism doesn’t necessarily rely on an emotional reaction to a word to accomplish this. Symbolism tends to use objects or particular imagery—such as rain for sadness—to express an emotion or concept, whereas connotation focuses on the emotional power of words.
Connotation vs. Loaded and Figurative Language
Loaded language is what connotation is informally called. A word can be loaded because of the emotional response it elicits. Meanwhile, connotation can be considered a form of figurative language, which is the use of words, phrases, and sentences to express an emotion or abstract concept that goes beyond literal meaning. Both connotation and figurative language add depth to the reader’s understanding of a text.
Connotation vs. Euphemism
While connotation is based on emotional associations with a word, euphemisms are indirect expressions that replace taboo, impolite, or unpleasant words or phrases with more accepted ones, such as passed away to refer to death.
Connotation Outside of Literature
As in literature, connotation is used in TV and film characters’ dialogue to suggest that another character or situation is positive or negative. The presence of connotation outside of entertainment is particularly felt in advertising, politics, and identity-based matters.
Connotation in Advertising and Politics
Because of its emotional weight, connotation can be an effective tool of persuasion. For example, ads often use the word home rather than house to evoke the positive feeling of family and belonging commonly associated with the word, aiming to tie their product with that feeling.
Politics also use this approach. For example, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech reached and persuaded as many people as it did because of its use of the word dream. It instantly evokes the positive feeling of an ideal reality and a goal worth fighting for to achieve, which inspired further support for the Civil Rights Movement.
Connotation and Identity
Connotation may also shift over time, and this is particularly evident in words related to identity. For example, in the first half of the 20th century, the word queer had a negative connotation and was used to demean members of the LGBTQ+ community. However, in the late 1980s, this connotation began to change. The word is commonly used now to indicate sexual identity that doesn’t fall within heterosexuality or the gender binary; it’s inclusive of those who don’t identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (for example, individuals who are agender or gender fluid) and creates a sense of solidarity among everyone who is in the LGBTQ+ community.
Examples of Connotation in Literature
1. W. W. Jacobs, “The Monkey’s Paw”
As the short story opens, Mr. White and his son Herbert play chess:
Father and son were at chess; the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical chances, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.
"Hark at the wind," said Mr. White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it.
This passage foreshadows the story’s tone. Phrases like “radical chances,” “sharp and unnecessary perils,” and “fatal mistake” connote the risk Mr. White later takes when making wishes on the monkey’s paw. The author uses these phrases’ foreboding emotions to hint at Mr. White’s decision to use the monkey's paw, which ultimately leads to Herbert's death.
2. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Frankenstein’s creation, often referred to as the Creature to demonstrate his inhuman status, turns the phrase on Frankenstein in this passage:
How can I move thee? Will no entreaties cause thee to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature, who implores thy goodness and compassion? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow-creatures, who owe me nothing? they spurn and hate me.
Throughout the novel, Shelley establishes the word creature to indicate Frankenstein’s belief that his creation is less than human. Here, that connotation allows Frankenstein’s monster to cast doubt on his maker being in any way superior to him. He refers to Frankenstein and humankind as creatures, indicating his assertion that he is as deserving of humanity and love as the rest of humankind.
Further Resources on Adage
Kidskonnect has worksheets on connotation.
Your Dictionary has a few practice exercises on connotation.
Alex Lyon has an informative video on connotation and denotation.