The emotional associations and implied meanings a word carries beyond its literal dictionary definition.
Connotation is the cloud of feelings, associations, and cultural baggage that surrounds a word. "Home" and "house" point to the same physical structure, but "home" carries warmth, safety, belonging - while "house" is just bricks and a roof. Every word you choose sends signals beyond its dictionary entry, and connotation is the name for those signals.
Connotation is how you control your reader's emotional experience at the sentence level. Two characters can describe the same event using different connotations and reveal completely different attitudes without ever stating them directly. It's the difference between writing that informs and writing that makes people feel something.
Newspeak is literally about destroying connotation - replacing words that carry freedom, rebellion, and nuance with flat, controlled alternatives. The whole novel argues that connotation is where thought lives.
Hurston's use of Southern Black vernacular carries rich cultural connotation that standard English can't replicate, grounding every line in community and lived experience.
Atwood weaponizes connotation through Gilead's vocabulary - "Handmaid" sounds biblical and honored, masking the horror of what the role actually means.
Words carry different associations in different communities. "Aggressive" means something different when applied to a business strategy vs. a person. Read widely and get diverse feedback.
Synonyms aren't interchangeable. "Infamous" doesn't mean the same as "famous" just because they share a root. Always check the emotional register of a replacement word.
Pick a character and describe them arriving at a party three times. First, use words with positive connotations (they're welcome, happy, confident). Second, use negative connotations (they're unwanted, anxious, out of place). Third, use neutral connotations. Don't change the facts - only the words. Notice how the same scene transforms.