Part LANGUAGE
8.3 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Name __________________________________
Connotation and Denotation
Practice
Write your answers and then print these pages.
Read the pairs of sentences below, paying particular attention to the underlined
words that have a similar denotation. Then follow the steps to determine which
word has a positive and which word has a negative connotation.
The picky girl found it hard to find any foods she liked on the menu.
The girl was very selective in her approach to finding just the right gift.
He could be a little nosy about things that didn’t concern him.
He was very curious about the world and liked to learn new things.
1.Look up the denotation, or dictionary definition of the underlined words in each
pair of sentences.
2.Look for context clues in the sentence that point to the connotation, or
emotional associations connected to each word.
3. Use your own knowledge of how each word is used.
4.Use all of this information to determine whether each word has a positive or
negative connotation.
Word
picky
selective
Denotation
Context Clues
Your Knowledge
Connotation
1
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Giggling during a serious speech is childish behavior.
The man’s playful personality made him very fun to be around.
Part LANGUAGE
8.3 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Name __________________________________
Word
nosy
curious
childish
playful
Denotation
Context Clues
Your Knowledge
Connotation
Word
Denotation
Context Clues
Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Your Knowledge
Connotation
2