WORD CONNOTATION

Sometimes a word suggests or implies more than its dictionary meaning—emotions and memories cling to it. This overtone of the word is called its connotation—and that connotation may be good or bad. The word home, for example, has always had a good connotation; it suggests comfort, warmth, privacy, love. On the other hand, the memories of World War II have given the word collaborator, a bad connotation. The word misnomer almost always has a bad connotation. We use it to refer to something that in our opinion doesn’t live up to its name.