contagion
Illness passing between
Contagion is the transmission of disease through direct or indirect contact.
By extension, it describes anything that spreads from person to person like an infection—fear, panic, laughter, or financial instability: The contagion of enthusiasm swept through the crowd.
In epidemiology, contagion specifically means spread requiring physical contact, distinguished from airborne transmission.
Pathogen invasion causing illness
- pathogenDisease-causing microorganism
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- bacteriaNucleus-free single-celled organisms
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
epidemic · pandemic · plague · transmission · microbe · parasite · fungus · illness
Sending of information
- propagationAct of spreading widely
- diffusionPassive molecular spreading
- proliferationRapid increase in quantity
- disseminationWide distribution of information
circulation · permeation · dispersion · replication · escalation · multiplication · outbreak · airborne
Uncontrollable sudden fear
- fearEmotional response to threat
- hysteriaUncontrollable emotional excess
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
terror · paranoia · alarm · collective fear · psychogenic · sympathetic · mood · laughter
Spreading quickly online
- memeShared online humor
- trendsettingInitiating popular movements
- bandwagonSurging popular cause
- peer pressureInfluence from one's equals
groupthink · mimicry · imitation · herd behavior · mass hysteria · panic · mob mentality · echo chamber
Dishonest abuse of power
- influencePower to affect others
- poisonHarmful ingested substance
- taintMake impure
- blightPlant disease causing decay
rot · cancer · toxicity · pollution · contamination · moral decay · vice · sin
Isolation preventing disease transmission
- isolationComplete separation from others
- lockdownEnforced restriction on movement
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- cordonEncircling line restricting access
disinfection · sterilization · sanitation · distancing · masking · tracing · surveillance · buffer zone
infection
Pathogen invasion causing illness
- pathogenDisease-causing microorganism
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- bacteriaNucleus-free single-celled organisms
outbreak · epidemic · pandemic · plague · transmission · microbe · parasite · fungus · illness · sickness
transmission
Sending of information
- propagationAct of spreading widely
- diffusionPassive molecular spreading
- proliferationRapid increase in quantity
dissemination · circulation · permeation · dispersion · replication · escalation · multiplication · outbreak · airborne · droplet
panic
Uncontrollable sudden fear
- fearEmotional response to threat
- hysteriaUncontrollable emotional excess
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
dread · terror · paranoia · alarm · collective fear · psychogenic · sympathetic · mood · laughter · yawning
viral
Spreading quickly online
- memeShared online humor
- trendsettingInitiating popular movements
- bandwagonSurging popular cause
peer pressure · groupthink · mimicry · imitation · herd behavior · mass hysteria · panic · mob mentality · echo chamber · influencer
corruption
Dishonest abuse of power
blight · rot · cancer · toxicity · pollution · contamination · moral decay · vice · sin · evil
quarantine
Isolation preventing disease transmission
- isolationComplete separation from others
- lockdownEnforced restriction on movement
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
cordon · disinfection · sterilization · sanitation · distancing · masking · tracing · surveillance · buffer zone · restriction
- epidemicsepidemic, pandemic, outbreak, disease, Black Death
- contagionoutbreak, epidemic, pandemic, spreading, transmission
- medicinedoctor, doctors, hospital, medicine, surgery
- global healthdisease, pandemic, World Health Organization, medications, pandemics
- illnessdisease, sickness, illness, ailment, disorder
- pandemiclockdowns, COVID-19, outbreak, epidemic, COVID
contagionimmunity
Protected from harm
cure · remedy · antidote · inoculation · vaccination
contagioncontainment
Preventing hostile expansion
isolation · quarantine · endemic · localization · insulation
contagionresistance
Capacity to withstand force
imperviousness · insulation · individuality · independence · detachment
- contagious diseaseTransmissible pathological condition
- contagion effectSpread through proximity or exposure
- highly contagious
- contagious laughMirth that spreads involuntarily
- not contagious
- financial contagionCrisis transmission between economies
contagious, contagions, contagiousness, contagiously, noncontagious