Question

The _____ is the idea, image, or feeling associated with a word that is different from its actual meaning.

Answer 1

Connotation is the answer<span />

Answer 2

The third alternative is correct (C).

Words can have more than one meaning, sometimes several, depending on the context in which they are used.

The denotative sense is also called the literal meaning of the word, that is, it has the original interpretation.

Example: The sun is hot.

The word sun was used in its literal sense, a star of the solar system.

The connotative, or figurative sense, occurs when the word presents different meanings, subject to different interpretations, depending on the phasic context in which it appears.

Example: You are my sun.

Here the word sun was employed with a connotative sense in an affectionate statement.