©2012AlwaysLearning

Denotation And

Connotation By: AlwaysLearning

©2012AlwaysLearning

DENOTATION

and

CONNOTATION

Denotation is the direct and explicit meaning of a word or set of words; it is the “dictionary definition. (D for dictionary!)

Connotation is the meaning of the word based on a shared emotional association; an idea or a feeling that a word brings above its literal meaning.

Meanings of the same word can be positive, negative, or neutral.

Work with your group to sort these words into the appropriate category (Positive, Negative, Neutral) on the chart paper provided. All the words are in a set of two or three (e.g. quiet, calm, meek). Use a dictionary if you're unsure of a word’s literal meaning:

dog fat weird skinny eerie

pushy starving cheap stubborn

riot overweight cook nag strange

assertive slender lady house

thrifty unique mutt demand determined

request hungry economical woman

thin chef horse protest home

ask steed shack rally

©2012AlwaysLearning

Possible Answer Key (depends upon your perspective!):

Neutral Positive Negative

horse steed nag

dog mutt

economical thrifty cheap

thin slender skinny

cook chef

protest rally riot

hungry starving

assertive determined pushy; stubborn

house home shack

ask request demand

strange unique; eerie weird; eerie

woman lady lady

overweight fat

©2012AlwaysLearning

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