Words can have different connotations but have similar meanings. Connotations affect the strength of a word, or how the word makes. Authors can use words with strong or weak connotations to make readers feel a certain way!
For instance,
<em>sad, disappointed, depressed</em>
these 3 words all have similar meanings, but the connotations are different. Depressed has the strongest one while sad has the weakest!
