infectious disease

noun

: a disease (such as influenza, malaria, meningitis, rabies, or tetanus) caused by the entrance into the body of pathogenic agents or microorganisms (such as bacteria, viruses, protozoans, or fungi) which grow and multiply there compare communicable disease, contagious disease

Examples of infectious disease in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ben Lopman is an infectious disease epidemiologist who has spent decades studying diarrheal diseases and the viruses that cause them, including rotavirus. —Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 20 Jan. 2026

If zombie-ism is mass psychosis, an infectious disease passed from person to person, maybe there’s a way to treat it, a way to wake up from the fog. —Katie Walsh, Dallas Morning News, 16 Jan. 2026

If zombie-ism is mass psychosis, an infectious disease passed from person to person, maybe there’s a way to treat it, a way to wake up from the fog. —Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 15 Jan. 2026

But providers already routinely have these discussions with parents, says Kathryn Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and vaccinologist, now emerita at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1600, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for infectious disease

• idiosyncrasies
• abcs
• absentees
• addressees
• adoptees
• allottees
• amputees
• antifreeze
• appellees
• appointees
• arrestees
• artistes

Kids Definition

infectious disease

noun

: a disease caused by the presence, growth, and increase in numbers of germs in the body

Medical Definition

infectious disease

noun

: a disease (as influenza, malaria, meningitis, rabies, or tetanus) caused by the entrance into the body of pathogenic agents or microorganisms (as bacteria, viruses, protozoans, or fungi) which grow and multiply there compare communicable disease, contagious disease