Vocabulary and Word Skills Set 6
Vocabulary and Word Skills Set 6 focuses on connotation, the positive, negative or neutral feeling a word carries beyond its basic dictionary meaning, its denotation. Words such as "slim", "thin" and "skinny" can describe the same thing but leave very different impressions on a reader, and 11+ vocabulary and writing questions often test whether a pupil can tell these shades of feeling apart, or choose a word deliberately for the impression it creates.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Separate a word's denotation, its literal, dictionary meaning, from its connotation, the extra feeling or judgement it carries.
- Learn that many words describing the same basic idea sit on a scale from positive, through neutral, to negative, for example slim, positive, thin, neutral, skinny, negative or unflattering.
- When comparing two similar words, ask what impression each would leave about the person or thing being described: admiring, neutral, or critical.
- In comprehension questions, use a word's connotation as evidence: if a writer chooses a negative-connotation word to describe a character, this often signals the writer's own attitude towards that character.
- In your own writing, choose words deliberately for their connotation to control how the reader feels about a person, place or event, rather than defaulting to the first synonym that comes to mind.
- Be careful with words that seem synonymous but carry very different connotations: "curious", positive, interested, and "nosy", negative, intrusive, both relate to wanting to know things, but leave opposite impressions.
Worked example
The word "stubborn" and the word "determined" both describe someone who refuses to give up on something. Explain the difference in connotation between them and give a sentence using each.
- Identify the shared denotation: both words describe someone unwilling to change their mind or stop trying.
- Identify the connotation of "determined": positive, suggesting admirable persistence and strength of will.
- Identify the connotation of "stubborn": negative, suggesting unreasonable or unhelpful refusal to change, even when it would be sensible to.
- Write a sentence using "determined" positively: "Her determined attitude meant she kept training every morning until she made the team."
- Final answer: "stubborn" and "determined" share the same basic meaning, but "determined" praises the persistence while "stubborn" criticises it, for example "His stubborn refusal to ask for directions meant the whole family arrived an hour late."
Practice questions
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Q1State whether the word "chatty" generally has a positive or negative connotation, compared with the more negative "nosy", when describing someone who talks to a lot of people.Show answer
Answer: Chatty generally has a positive or neutral connotation, friendly and sociable, while nosy is negative, unwelcome and prying.
Q2Which word has a more negative connotation: "cheap" or "inexpensive"?Show answer
Answer: "Cheap" (it can suggest poor quality, whereas "inexpensive" suggests good value without that criticism).
Q3Explain the difference in connotation between "childish" and "childlike".Show answer
Answer: "Childish" is negative, suggesting immature or unreasonable behaviour, especially in an adult or older child; "childlike" is positive or neutral, suggesting innocent, wonder-filled qualities associated with childhood.
Q4A writer describes a character's home as "cosy" rather than "cramped". What impression is the writer trying to create?Show answer
Answer: A positive, warm and comfortable impression, rather than the negative impression of a space being too small, which "cramped" would suggest.
Q5Give one word with a positive connotation and one word with a negative connotation that both mean "unusual".Show answer
Answer: Any valid pair, for example positive: unique or distinctive; negative: weird or strange.
Q6Why might a persuasive writer deliberately choose a word with a strong negative connotation when describing the opposing side of an argument?Show answer
Answer: To influence the reader's feelings against that side without stating an opinion directly, making the argument seem more convincing through word choice alone.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Two newspaper reports describe the same event. Report A calls the group of teenagers "a gang". Report B calls the same group "a group of friends". Explain the connotation of each word choice and what this suggests about each report's attitude towards the teenagers. (4 marks)
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Explain why two words can share the same basic, dictionary meaning but still be unsuitable substitutes for each other in a piece of writing. (3 marks)
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the vocabulary and word skills set 6 worksheet pack - 13 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 27 of 11+ English Workbook 3, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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