as in virus
sickness that can be passed from one person, plant, or animal to another
The rumors spread like a contagion.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of contagion
And as if penalizing city drivers wasn’t enough, the city’s obsession with traffic cameras is becoming a contagion that’s infecting surrounding suburbs.
—
The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 3 Mar. 2025
Market turbulence and contagion is a key risk if underlying inflation remains stubborn — a crucial risk to low-income countries that are already under stress from high sovereign debt and currency market volatility.
—Hakyung Kim, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2024
To determine if the synced urination was due to external factors - like water consumption and being outside - or social contagion, the researchers placed the chimps in groups of four at varying distances from each other.
—Greta Cross, USA TODAY, 31 Jan. 2025
The interconnections between banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions means that even if climate change were to hurt only one type of financial institution, there is a very high risk of contagion throughout the entire financial system and the economy of Main Street.
—Mayra Rodriguez Valladares, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contagion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contagion
Noun
-
The virus has also infected 756 dairy herds; more than 75% of the state’s total dairy herds.—
-
Over a million Americans have died from the virus since 2020.—
Noun
-
The campaign was threaded with a drumbeat suggestion that homeless people are a subhuman plague.—
-
Similarly, it was called the white plague or white death – due to anemia from the disease, with people appearing pallid or chalky – leading to near-certain death.—
Noun
-
Prenuptial Pancreatitis The day before the wedding, the bride-to-be has a fever, jaundice of the eyes, and is diaphoretic — that is, sweating profuseful.—
-
Three factions, three agendas, one nestled inside the next like a Russian doll: garden-variety Trumpian power-lust and piracy, covering over a deeper plan to radically winnow down the government, covering over a still deeper fever dream of completely immolating the government.—
Cite this Entry
“Contagion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contagion. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share