infectious
Americanadjective
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communicable by infection, as from one person to another or from one part of the body to another.
infectious diseases.
- Synonyms:
- catching
-
causing or communicating infection.
-
tending to spread from one to another.
infectious laughter.
-
Law. capable of contaminating with illegality; exposing to seizure or forfeiture.
-
Obsolete. diseased.
adjective
-
(of a disease) capable of being transmitted Compare contagious
-
(of a disease) caused by microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, or protozoa
-
causing or transmitting infection
-
tending or apt to spread, as from one person to another
infectious mirth
-
international law
-
tainting or capable of tainting with illegality
-
rendering liable to seizure or forfeiture
-
Related Words
See contagious.
Other Word Forms
- infectiously adverb
- infectiousness noun
- noninfectious adjective
- noninfectiously adverb
- noninfectiousness noun
- uninfectious adjective
- uninfectiously adverb
- uninfectiousness noun
Etymology
Origin of infectious
First recorded in 1535–45; infect(ion) + -ious
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Soldiers died in combat, from wounds, and most often from epidemics of infectious diseases such as dysentery, typhoid fever, or measles.
From Literature
Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand said in a statement that the tigers' deaths exposed the "extreme vulnerability of captive wildlife facilities to infectious disease".
From BBC
For decades, scientists have chased the idea of a universal vaccine capable of protecting against virtually any infectious threat.
From Science Daily
The drugmaker is splitting its Human Health business into an oncology unit and a specialty, pharmaceuticals, and infectious diseases unit.
From Barron's
The provincial livestock office in Chiang Mai said in a statement on Friday that testing detected the highly infectious canine distemper virus as well as bacteria affecting the respiratory system.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
