connotation
Word's emotional undertone
Connotation is the emotional or cultural baggage a word carries beyond its literal meaning.
Home denotes a dwelling but connotes warmth and belonging.
Cheap and inexpensive mean the same thing, but cheap connotes low quality.
Writers and speakers choose words partly for their connotations—slender flatters where skinny might not.
Indirect suggestion or consequence
- suggestionIdea proposed for consideration
- undertoneSubdued background quality
- overtoneSubsidiary meaning or harmonic
- subtextImplicit meaning beneath words
insinuation · nuance · association · intimation · hint · allusion · inference · sense
Study of linguistic meaning
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- semioticsStudy of signs, symbols
- signifierMeaning-bearing form
- signifiedExpressed meaning symbolically
collocation · lexical · register · context · polysemy · sense · reference · meaning
Sensed inner state
- moodPrevailing emotional condition
- toneQuality of sound
- sentimentFelt attitude or view
- auraPerceived emanation surrounding someone
vibe · atmosphere · resonance · evocation · association · perception · warmth · coldness
Mild substitute for bluntness
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
irony · allegory · loaded language · weasel words · dog whistle · dysphemism · spin · framing
implication
Indirect suggestion or consequence
- suggestionIdea proposed for consideration
- undertoneSubdued background quality
- overtoneSubsidiary meaning or harmonic
subtext · insinuation · nuance · association · intimation · hint · allusion · inference · sense · significance
semantics
Study of linguistic meaning
- pragmaticsLanguage-in-context study
- semioticsStudy of signs, symbols
- signifierMeaning-bearing form
signified · collocation · lexical · register · context · polysemy · sense · reference · meaning · usage
feeling
Sensed inner state
aura · vibe · atmosphere · resonance · evocation · association · perception · warmth · coldness · negativity
euphemism
Mild substitute for bluntness
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
analogy · irony · allegory · loaded language · weasel words · dog whistle · dysphemism · spin · framing · epithet
stereotype
Fixed oversimplified notion
- archetypeOriginal model for copies
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- imageryVivid descriptive language
ethos · ideology · taboo · stigma · prestige · bias · prejudice · assumption · expectation · norm
- languagelanguage, word, words, grammar, spelling
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- language termsgrammar, word, vocabulary, syntax, synonym
- meaningmeaning, sense, significance, definition, semantics
- literary analysisliterary analysis, character analysis, book review, plot, critical analysis
- literary devicesmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration
connotationdenotation
Word's explicit dictionary meaning
literal meaning · dictionary definition · literal · referent · extension