Connotation

“Connotation (noun): The conveying of verbal meaning with or apart from a word’s more evident, denotative meaning; implicit, associative sense of a word beyond its primary or literal meaning; affective or emotional purport of a term or expression; implication. Adjective: connotational, connotative; Adverb: Connotatively; Verb: connote.

‘Of course, the mere name of my mother has no special connotation, no significance, but the woman herself was the vague consoling spirit the terrible seasons of life when unlikely accidents, tabloid adventures, shocking episodes, surrounded a solitary and wistful heart.’ John Hawkes, Second Skin”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

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