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Determine Meaning: Words & Phrases

How do I determine the meaning of a word?

-Use context clues

-Interpret figurative language

-Analyze connotation and nuance

By doing all of the above, you are studying what surrounds the word to determine what it's meaning is.

Definition Clues

Context clues

Subtopic 1

For example: When cotton clothing is permeated, or soaked through with water, it stays and can freeze in cold weather.

Based on the placement of commas in this sentence, we can use our context clues to determine that the meaning of permeated means that something is soaked through with water or saturated.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonym clues appear when the text surrounding an unfamiliar word contains a word with a similar meaning.

Antonyms appear when the text surrounding an unfamiliar contains a word with the opposite meaning.

The easiest way to remember this is to remember that "syn" sounds like "similar"

Synonym & Antonym Clues

Examples

Example

Antonym:

Andrea's opponent was honest and straightforward, but Andrea used her guile to win the contest.

Guile-sly or cunning intelligence, this word often has a negative meaning as it refers to the kind of knowledge and skills that are used by super villains.

Synonym:

Big & large

Unhappy & Sad

The stars were shiny and the planets were bright.

Inference Clues

Inferences can be made when the text requires the reader to use reasoning to determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

Inference

Example

The curmudgeonly man was not well liked in the neighborhood. He often yelled for no reason a kids who were passing by.

Based on this sentence, we infer that curmudgeonly has a negative meaning because he is not well liked and he yells at kids for no reason.

Sarah discovered that some of the materials she tested were malleable enough to serve as springs for the robot while others were too hard to bend.

Based on the clues in the sentence, what can you infer about the world malleable?

Example

Literal vs. Figurative Language

Literal language is when words mean exactly what they say and figurative language uses similes, hyperbole and personification to describe something, often through comparison with something different.

Literal: Grass looks green

Figurative: The grass looks like spiky green hair (simile)

Literal: Sand feels rough

Figurative: Sand is solid water

Literal vs. Figurative

Personification & Hyperbole

Personification: When human like qualities are given to non-human objects

Example: Lightning danced across the sky or My alarm clock yells at me to get out of bed every morning.

Hyperbole: Add emphasis and is over-dramatic

Example: I have a million things to do today or I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

Euphemism vs. Oxymoron

Euphemism or Oxymoron

Euphemism: Used for certain abstractions, such as death, aging or getting fire.

For example: put to sleep instead of euthanize or negative patient outcome instead of died.

Oxymoron: When contradictory terms appear together,

For example: deafening silence or seriously funny

Denotation vs. Connotation

Denotation: the literal or basic definition of a term-this is what you see when you look up the word in the dictionary.

Connotation Examples:

Positive connotation: thrifty

Neutral connotation: saving

Negative connotation: stingy

Positive connotation: interested

Neutral connotation: questioning

Negative connotation: nosy

Connotation is similar to nuance, which is the subtle way it's meaning differs from other words

Denotation vs. Connotation

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