If a word connotes something, it makes you think of extra qualities and ideas, not just the basic thing it names. “Mother” can mean a female parent; it may also connote care, home cooking, or, for some people, worry and rules. Clothes and colours can connote things too: a dark suit can connote seriousness. Though actually, what a word connotes is not fixed — it depends on who is listening, and on the time and place. This is a slightly formal, classroom-and-writing word. In everyday English people more often say “that makes me think of…” or “that sounds like…” The pair to learn with it is denote: denote is the plain meaning; connote is the extra shadow.

帶有…的聯想、暗示言外之意（和「直接指稱」的 denote 相對）