Words / B2

k-uh-n-TAYJ-uh-s/kənˈteɪdʒəs/

Contagious means spreading from person to person: a contagious infection; contagious laughter. Infectious is a close twin (sometimes slightly wider in technical use). Isolated is an opposite public-health idea. Wards close when an infection is contagious. Do not call a non-spreading condition contagious.

Meaning

Spreading from person to person (disease); also spreading in mood (contagious laughter).

Examples

• “The infection is contagious, so the ward stayed closed.”
• “Panic can be contagious in a crashing market, which is the metaphor.”

Good to know

a contagious disease / laugh. Close: infectious. Public health: contagious period. Metaphor: contagious enthusiasm. Not for non-communicable illness. Ward closures.

Near in meaning

infectious

New