The Vocabulary of Vocabulary

Useful Words We Use to Describe and Identify Words

Denotation & Connotation

• Denotation: The denotation of a word is its specific dictionary meaning.

• Connotation: The connotation of a word is its tone – that is the emotions or associations it normally arouses in people using, hearing, or reading it.• A word may be favorable (positive) or

unfavorable (negative, pejorative).

Connotation

• A word that does not normally evoke strong feelings of any kind has a neutral connotation.

• Examples:• Word Connotation• bereft unfavorable• adroit favorable• swerve neutral

Literal and Figurative Usage

• Word used in a Literal Sense: • strict dictionary meaning• Makes sense from purely logical/realistic

point of view• Yesterday I read an old tale about a knight who

slew a fire-breathing dragon.• In this sentence, fire-breathing is employed literally.• The dragon is pictured as breathing real fire.

Literal and Figurative Usage

• Figurative or Metaphorical Usage• Words are used in a symbolic or non-literal

way.• Situations do NOT make sense from a

purely logical or realistic point of view.• Example:

• Suddenly my boss rushed into my office, breathing fire.

Figurative Language

• In the previous sentence, breathing fire is NOT being used in a literal sense

• The boss was not actually breathing fire out of his nostrils.

• The expression is intended to convey (show) graphically that the boss was very angry.

Synonyms & Antonyms

• A synonym is a word that has the same or almost the same meaning as another word.

• An antonym is a word that means the opposite of or almost the opposite of another word.

Vocabulary Strategy: Using Context

• Context of a Word• The printed text of which that word is a part• By studying the context, we may find clues

that lead us to its meaning• We might find clues in the immediate sentence

or phrase in which the word appears.• We might find clues in the physical features of

a page itself. (Photographs, illustrations, charts, graphs, captions, and headings are examples).

Using Context

• When you do the various word omission exercises in the book, look for context clues built into the sentence or passage to guide you to the correct answer.• Three types of context clues appear in the

exercises in the vocabulary workshop book.• Restatement clues• Contrast clues• Inference clues

Restatement Clues

• Consists of a synonym for, or a definition of, the missing word.• The summer humidity seemed to make

everything wilt, and I could feel the ______ in the air.

a. wetness b. pollen c. excitement

Contrast Clues

• A contrast clue consists of an antonym for, or a phrase that means the opposite of, the missing word.• Though she was exhausted, she worked on the

production with admirable (energy, lethargy).• In this sentence, exhausted is in contrast with the

missing word, energy. This is confirmed by the presence of the word though.

• Exhausted thus functions as a contrast clue for energy.

Inference Clue

• An inference clue implies but does not directly state the meaning of the missing word or words.

• It took a great deal of _____________ to keep up with the rest of the pack as they sped across the broken and hilly ____________ that separated them from the finish line in the cross country race.

• a. dispatch…apparel c. stamina…terrain• b. misgiving….repast d. diversity…barrage

Inference Clue

• In the previous sentence, there are several inference clues.• Keep up with the rest of the pack suggests the

word stamina because people who keep up must by definition have stamina.

• The word sped suggests the same thing• The words broken and hilly suggest terrain

because they are both terms that describe terrain.• All of these words are inference clues because

they suggest or imply, but do not directly state, the missing word or words.