contagion

Language: en

🇬🇧 /kəˈnteɪdʒən/ 🇺🇸 /kəˈnteɪdʒən/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The transmission of a disease from one person or organism to another by direct or indirect contact.; A disease that is transmissible by contact; a contagious disease.; The rapid spread of something harmful or undesirable, such as an idea, emotion, or financial crisis, from one entity to others.; A harmful influence or corrupting effect.; The medium or vehicle by which a disease is transmitted; a contagious agent.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable / uncountable Plural: contagions

Collocations

financial contagioncontagion effectspread contagioncontagion spreadrisk of contagion

Derivatives

contagiouscontagiouslycontagiousness

Synonyms

infectiondiseaseplagueepidemicpestilence

Antonyms

immunityresistance

Commonly confused

infection
EN: 'Infection' refers to the invasion of the body by pathogens; 'contagion' emphasizes the transmissibility from person to person.
contagious
EN: 'Contagious' is the adjective form describing something that spreads by contact; 'contagion' is the noun referring to the disease or the process of spreading.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember it ends in '-gion' (not '-gtion' or '-gion' with a silent 't'); the root is from Latin 'contagio'.

💬 Examples

  1. The contagion spread rapidly through the crowded city.

  2. The village was quarantined to prevent the contagion from spreading further.

  3. The financial contagion quickly spread from one country to its neighbors.

  4. The contagion of greed corrupted the entire institution.

  5. Scientists worked to identify the contagion responsible for the outbreak.