Positive, Negative, and Neutral Word Choices

Sort near-synonyms by connotation and notice how they steer a reader's opinion.

Near-synonyms can be arranged on a scale from positive through neutral to negative. Consider words for someone who talks a lot: 'articulate' or 'expressive' (positive), 'talkative' (neutral), 'chatty' (mildly negative), 'long-winded' (negative). Or a group of people gathered outside: 'crowd' (neutral), 'gathering' (slightly warm), 'mob' (negative, suggesting danger). News writing, advertising, and persuasive essays all exploit this scale.

Read two headlines about the same event: 'Residents gather to discuss park plan' and 'Mob confronts council over park. ' The facts may be identical, but the second makes the people seem threatening. A careful reader notices and asks, 'Is this word choice fair to what actually happened? ' A careful writer chooses neutral words when the goal is to inform and saves loaded words for when an opinion is meant. Practice by replacing one key word in a sentence and noticing how your reaction changes.

• 1Near-synonyms range from positive to neutral to negative.
• 2Word choice can steer a reader's opinion without changing facts.
• 3Neutral words suit informing; loaded words signal opinion.