adjective · neutral

infectious

/ɪnˈfekʃəs/in·FEC·tious

Band 6-7speakingtask2

able to be passed from one person to another; caused by an infectious agent

Examples

The hospital isolated patients with infectious diseases.

Influenza is highly infectious in crowded places.

Public health campaigns aim to limit the spread of infectious pathogens.

Band 8 sentence

During the outbreak, public health officials emphasized isolating infected individuals to prevent the spread of highly infectious pathogens.

Collocations

  • infectious disease
  • highly infectious
  • infectious agent

Word family

infect verbinfection nouninfectious adjectiveinfectiously adverb

Common mistakes

contagiousinfectious

an infection diseasean infectious disease

highly infectedhighly infectious

Say it for a higher band

5sick6contagious7+infectious

Synonyms

contagious

communicable

Easily confused

contagious

The measles virus is highly contagious.

Related words

Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.

In -ous

Learn it with its set