Thinking of a stone tossed into a pool and ripples spreading out from it can help you understand the distinction between denotation, the dictionary meaning of a word (the stone), and connotation, the associations that accompany the word (the ripples).

Words with similar denotations may have connotations that vary widely. The words enthusiasm, passion, and obsession, for instance, all have roughly the same dictionary meaning. But the associations called up by each word are quite different: an enthusiasm is a pleasurable and absorbing interest; a passion has a strong emotional component and may affect someone positively or negatively; an obsession is an unhealthy attachment that excludes other interests. Pushy and assertive also have similar denotations but different connotations—one negative, the other neutral or positive.

Take special care to use words with the appropriate connotations for your intended meaning. Note the differences in connotation among the following three statements:

The group Students Against Racism erected a temporary barrier on the campus oval. Members say it symbolizes “the many barriers to those discriminated against by university policies.”

Left-wing agitators planted an eyesore right on the oval to try to stampede the university into giving in to their every demand.

Supporters of human rights for all students challenged the university’s investment in racism by erecting a protest barrier on campus.

The first statement is neutral, merely stating facts (and quoting the assertion about university policy to represent it as someone’s words rather than as facts); the second, by using words with negative connotations (agitators, eyesore, stampede), is strongly critical; the third, by using words with positive connotations (supporters of human rights) and presenting assertions as facts (the university’s investment in racism), gives a favorable slant to the group’s actions. Political parties use words with loaded connotations regularly: during the health care reform debate in 2009–2010, for example, anti-reform groups used the term death panels to describe legislation that would reimburse doctors for optional consultations with patients about hospice care, living wills, and similar services.