Although the words we use have specific definitions, they also make us think of other words. These other words are called associations. For example, the word expensive means costing a lot of money. But what else might we associate with this word? Perhaps the words fancy, wealthy, premium, or classy come to mind. These are all emotional connections to the word expensive. In this example, the word expensive literally means costing a lot of money. This is what is called the denotation, or literal meaning of the word. This is what you will find if you look up the word in the dictionary. The associations we think of, such as fancy or wealthy, are called connotations, or ideas or feelings that come to mind in addition to the literal meaning, or denotation.