College Composition / Unit 10 CMP 0227 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Denotation and Connotation
Captions available
The idea
A word's denotation is its dictionary meaning; its connotation is the feeling or association it carries.
In practice
Small, cramped and cozy can describe the same room, but cramped carries a negative connotation and cozy a positive one.
Where people slip
A word with the right denotation and the wrong connotation can quietly change a writer's tone or claim.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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