(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
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
in•fec•tious /ɪnˈfɛkʃəs/USA pronunciation
adj.
in•fec•tious•ness, n. [uncountable]See -fec-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Pathology(of a disease) spread by infection, as from one person to another or from one part of the body to another:If you have an infectious disease you really should not go to work.
- tending to spread quickly and to many people:infectious laughter.
in•fec•tious•ness, n. [uncountable]See -fec-.
in•fec•tious
(in fek′shəs),USA pronunciation adj.
in•fec′tious•ly, adv.
in•fec′tious•ness, n.
- Pathologycommunicable by infection, as from one person to another or from one part of the body to another:infectious diseases.
- Pathologycausing or communicating infection.
- tending to spread from one to another:infectious laughter.
- Lawcapable of contaminating with illegality;
exposing to seizure or forfeiture. - [Obs.]diseased.
- infect(ion) + -ious 1535–45
in•fec′tious•ness, n.
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged . catching. See contagious.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'infectious disease' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Bang's disease
- Chagas' disease
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- actinobacillosis
- agammaglobulinemia
- autochthonous
- beaver fever
- blackhead
- brucellosis
- cachexia
- cholera
- complement-fixation test
- contagious abortion
- contagium
- diphtheria
- distemper
- dourine
- dropsy
- dysentery
- epidemiology
- erysipelas
- hemorrhagic septicemia
- herpangina
- histoplasmosis
- incubation period
- infection
- infectious bovine rhinotracheitis
- infectious mononucleosis
- isolation
- joint ill
- kala-azar
- latent
- leprosy
- leptospirosis
- malaria
- measles
- mumps
- ophthalmia neonatorum
- orf
- paratyphoid
- pebrine
- pestiferous
- pestilence
- pestilent
- plague
- rabies
- rinderpest
- scrub typhus
- solitude
- sporotrichosis