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connotation

noun

Simple meaning

The feeling or idea a word suggests beyond its basic meaning.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kahnuhtayshuhn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

kɑnəˈteɪʃən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. semantics

    An idea that is implied or suggested

  2. semantics

    A meaning of a word or phrase that is suggested or implied, as opposed to a denotation, or literal meaning. A characteristic of words or phrases, or of the contexts that words and phrases are used in.

  3. logic

    The attribute or aggregate of attributes connoted by a term, contrasted with denotation.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An idea that is implied or suggested

Used this way, connotation is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: idea that is implied or suggested

intension

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.