Infectious
[ɪn'fekʃəs] or [ɪn'fɛkʃəs]
Definition
(adj.) easily spread; 'fear is exceedingly infectious; children catch it from their elders'- Bertrand Russell .
(adj.) caused by infection or capable of causing infection; 'viruses and other infective agents'; 'a carrier remains infective without himself showing signs of the disease' .
(adj.) of or relating to infection; 'infectious hospital'; 'infectious disease' .
Typist: Ursula--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Having qualities that may infect; communicable or caused by infection; pestilential; epidemic; as, an infectious fever; infectious clothing; infectious air; infectious vices.
(a.) Corrupting, or tending to corrupt or contaminate; vitiating; demoralizing.
(a.) Contaminating with illegality; exposing to seizure and forfeiture.
(a.) Capable of being easily diffused or spread; sympathetic; readily communicated; as, infectious mirth.
Editor: Pierre
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Contagious, pestilential, pestiferous, catching.[2]. Contaminating, corrupting, vitiating, poisoning, defiling.
Edited by Amber
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See CONTAGIOUS]
Editor: Wilma
Examples
- We were aware, I answered, that the malady was considered infectious. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I inquired after Sophia, who had not been permitted to visit me because the scarlet fever was considered infectious. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- I do not believe my illness is infectious. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- This digression into the history of Ireland now comes up to the time of infectious imperialism in Europe. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- That language must be infectious. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- I hope not of a putrid infectious sort. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Her contempt for me was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- The Lady Blanche avoided her as if she had been an infectious disease. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- The fever may, I fear, be infectious. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He waved his horrid hand at me--he struck his infectious breast--he addressed me oratorically, as if I was laid up in the House of Commons. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Strange to say, this feeling was infectious. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- More talk, more time for the development of infectious influences--in my room, too--remember that, in my room! Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I hope not infectious. Jane Austen. Emma.
- The vagary of Timothy Fairway was infectious. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
Editor: Wilma