communicable
Able to transfer
Communicable describes something that can be passed from one person to another.
The word appears most often with diseases: communicable diseases like influenza or tuberculosis spread through contact, air, or bodily fluids.
More broadly, communicable can describe any transmissible quality—an idea, feeling, or enthusiasm that spreads readily: Her joy was immediately communicable to everyone in the room.
Able to spread between individuals
- spreadableAble to be spread
- catchingAble to be transmitted
- infectiousAble to spread disease
- infectiveAble to spread illness
transferable · passable · contractible · transmission · airborne · droplet · contact · vector-borne
Pathogen invasion causing illness
- pathogenDisease-causing microorganism
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- bacteriaNucleus-free single-celled organisms
- tuberculosisMycobacterial lung disease
measles · influenza · cholera · typhoid · hepatitis · whooping cough · chickenpox · scarlet fever
To distribute widely
- carrierOne that transports
- hostOne receiving guests
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
- contagionDisease spread by contact
outbreak · epidemic · pandemic · reservoir · shedding · viral load · exposure · susceptible
Administered immunity booster
- quarantineIsolation preventing disease transmission
- isolationComplete separation from others
- hygienePractices maintaining cleanliness
- sanitationCleanliness for public health
handwashing · disinfection · mask · immunization · screening · contact tracing · surveillance · outbreak response
transmissible
Able to spread between individuals
- spreadableAble to be spread
- catchingAble to be transmitted
- infectiousAble to spread disease
infective · transferable · passable · contractible · transmission · airborne · droplet · contact · vector-borne · waterborne
infection
Pathogen invasion causing illness
- pathogenDisease-causing microorganism
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- bacteriaNucleus-free single-celled organisms
tuberculosis · measles · influenza · cholera · typhoid · hepatitis · whooping cough · chickenpox · scarlet fever · meningitis
spread
To distribute widely
- carrierOne that transports
- hostOne receiving guests
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
contagion · outbreak · epidemic · pandemic · reservoir · shedding · viral load · exposure · susceptible · infected
vaccination
Administered immunity booster
- quarantineIsolation preventing disease transmission
- isolationComplete separation from others
- hygienePractices maintaining cleanliness
sanitation · handwashing · disinfection · mask · immunization · screening · contact tracing · surveillance · outbreak response · notification
- public healthdisease prevention, immunization, disease control, health education, epidemiology
- epidemiologyepidemic, epidemiology, pandemic, outbreak, endemic
- medical resultspositive, negative, normal, abnormal, inconclusive
- pathologycancer, disease, infection, tumor, lesion
communicablenoncommunicable
Cannot be transmitted
noninfectious · noncontagious · contained · isolated · localized
communicableincommunicable
Unable to be shared
inexpressible · ineffable · uncommunicable · unutterable · untransmittable
- communicable diseaseIllness that spreads person-to-person