Connote

• To connote is to say more than the specific meaning of the word you use and to convey deep meaning. In English especially, there are often many different ways to represent a given concept, and picking your words carefully based on their connotations is important. Generally, words are considered to have a positive, negative or neutral connotation.
  
  

Denote

• Denotation is the exact meaning of a word; denotations can be looked up in a dictionary, where connotations often cannot. Words with different connotations may have the same denotation, such as in the case of "husky" and "fat," both of which can describe a person who is larger than average.
  
  

Examples

• Resilience can be described both as "stubbornness" and as "dedication," depending on whether someone is trying to convey good or bad feelings about the subject. Likewise, "commanding" and "bossy" may both denote someone who is apt to give orders, but the former conjures positive images, rather than negative. These are examples of how connotative language makes a difference in what we really say when we speak.
  
  

Misuse

• "Connote" and "denote" are two words commonly misused by the general public, despite clear differences in their definitions. One way to remember one from the other is to associate "denote" and "dictionary," since denotations can be looked up there. Also alliterative are "connote" and "convey," two related concepts that may help clarify the differences.