double meanings
Two possible readings
Double meanings are two interpretations a word or phrase can carry simultaneously.
The term usually implies one meaning is innocent while the other is risqué or subversive: The comedian's routine was full of double meanings.
Writers exploit double meanings for wordplay, innuendo, and layered significance.
A double meaning may be intentional or accidental—context and delivery determine which reading dominates.
- jokeHumorous statement seeking laughter
- semanticsStudy of linguistic meaning
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- punWordplay using double meanings
- play on wordsExploiting linguistic ambiguity humorously
equivocation · heteronym · polysemy · connotations · homonymy · sense · doublespeak · wordplay · wink wink · nudge nudge · tongue in cheek · homograph · nuance · ambivalent · uncertainties · interpretations · wit · intention
- languagelanguage, word, words, grammar, spelling
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- confusionconfusion, confused, bewilderment, perplexity, baffled
- wordplaypun, puns, punning, punny, punster
- translation errorsfalse friends, literal translation, word-for-word, garble, calque
- secrecy in arthidden messages, hidden figures
double meaningsliteral meaning
Exact, non-figurative interpretation
univocal · plain meaning · denotation · surface meaning · unambiguous
double meaningsdirectness
Quality of being straightforward
straight talk · bluntness · candor · transparency · plain speech
double, meanings, doubles, doubled, doubling, doubly, redouble, redoubled, redoubling