Academic Word List- Positive and Negative Connotations

Academic Word List positive and negative connotations

Without looking at the list below, listen to your teacher read out words and raise the Positive card or Negative card that you were given depending on what you hear.

Label the rows of words below P for positive or N for negative. The words on each row have the same kind of connotation, so if you aren’t sure about one word you can look at the other words on the same line.

abandon/ abandonment                                          ambiguous                      arbitrary/ arbitrarily

 

accessible                                                                 accommodating              accurate

 

achievement/ achievable                                        adaptable                        anticipation

 

approachable                                              appropriate                      attainment

 

authoritative                                                              awareness                       beneficial/ benefit

 

biased                                                                        bulky                                 collapse

 

brevity                                                                        clarity                                classic

 

coherent                                                                     commitment                     compatible/ compatibility

 

comprehensive                                           constructive                     consistency/ consistent

 

conformist/ conformity                               contradictory                   decline

 

contribute/ contribution                              convincing                       cooperation

 

credit/ credited                                            demonstrable    devote/ devoted/ devotion

 

discretion                                                                   discriminating   diversity/ diversify

 

distort/ distortion/ distorted                                     domination                      erode/ erosion

 

dynamic                                                                     empirical                          enable/ enabling

 

energetic                                                                    ethical                              enhance/ enhancement

 

error/ erroneous                                                       exposure                          ideological

 

evolution/ evolve                                                      expertise/ expertly          facilitate

 

flexible/ flexibility                                                      focused              guarantee

 

highlight                                                                     implementation incentive

ignorant/ ignorance                                                  implicate                          injure/ injury

 

innovation/ innovative/ innovator                           insight/ insightful            integrity

 

interactive                                                                  involving                          justifiable

 

isolation/ isolationism                                melodramatic    manipulation/ manipulative

 

logical                                                                        maximise                         mediate/ mediation

 

methodical                                                                 motivated                         mutual

 

minor                                                                          passive/ passivity           overestimate/ underestimate

 

objective/ objectivity                                  persistent                         phenomenal

 

precision                                                                    prime                                priority

 

presumption/ presumptuous                     prohibitive                        reactionary

 

professionalism                                          proportionate                   rational

 

refine/ refined/ refinement                                       relevant                            reliable

 

reluctant                                                                     restrictive                         rigid

 

resourceful                                                                responsive                       restore

 

revolutionise                                                             secure/ security selected/ selective

 

straightforward                                            transformation   ultimate

 

undergo                                                                     under-resourced             variable

 

Check your answers as a class.

Can you find any patterns in parts of words that have positive meanings and parts of words which have negative meanings?

Test each other in pairs.

Try to argue that one of the words above has the opposite aspect too, e.g. that a generally positive word has negative aspects.

What hedging language could you have used in the last stage to make your opinion softer?

Cards to hold up

Photocopy and cut up one of each card per student.

Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative
Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative
Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative
Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative
Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative
Positive	Negative	Positive	Negative