Connotation vs. Denotation: Literally, what do you mean?
It's about meaning and nuance
What to KnowA word’s denotation is its plain and direct meaning—its explicit meaning. A word’s connotation is what the word implies—that is, the nuances and shades of meaning that the word carries with it. The denotation of the word aroma is basically “smell”: the characteristic of something you perceive with your nose. But the word’s connotation is typically “a pleasant and pervasive smell.” People tend to apply the word aroma to coffee, for example, only if they like the smell.
A word’s denotation is its plain and direct meaning or meanings. It’s what the word explicitly means—that is, what is fully and clearly expressed by a word.
A word’s connotation is what the word implies or suggests; that is, the nuances and shades of meaning that the word brings along with it, apart from what it explicitly names or describes.
Take the noun aroma. The denotation of aroma in “the aroma of coffee” is basically “smell”: the characteristic of something you perceive with your nose. But the connotation of aroma is typically “a pleasant and pervasive smell.” People generally apply the word aroma to coffee only if they like the smell.
Sometimes words that look similar and share a denotation have strikingly different connotations. Consider childlike and childish. Both have a basic denotation of “resembling a child.” But where childlike has connotations of innocence, trust, simplicity, and candidness, childish has connotations of immaturity and lack of poise. Describing an adult as “childlike” is very different from describing that person as “childish.”
Lots of words have connotations that are so consistent and common that they are included in the dictionary definition of the word as secondary meanings. Our definition of childlike adds “especially: marked by innocence, trust, and ingenuousness,” and our definition of childish includes “marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise.” That’s why we say a denotation isn’t a word’s dictionary definition, but a word’s primary meaning. Note: a word's connotations may not be commonly held; sometimes a word will have a particular connotation only for a group of people, for a family, or even for a single person.
English has very few word pairs that are exact synonyms because connotations develop and then push the words’ primary meanings—their denotations—apart. Hundreds of years ago, mansion and house could both be used for any kind of residence. But eventually mansion took on the connotation of “big and fancy house” (we actually define it as “a large imposing residence”) and eventually that became its denotation too. (The curious among you may be interested to know that the Norman Conquest of a thousand years ago is to blame for this and many other pairs.)
In writing, you can choose a word that has a clear denotation and few connotations—a word like tall or quiet—or you can choose a word that connotes something more—like statuesque or tranquil. Your druthers, your choice, your connotations.
