# pathogen vs pathogenic

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### pathogen
*noun · IPA /ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/ · frequency rank #23,354*
An agent that can cause disease, especially an infectious microorganism, such as a bacterium, virus, protozoon or fungus.

### pathogenic
*adjective · IPA /pæθəˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/ · frequency rank #30,531*
Able to cause (harmful) disease.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pathogen-vs-pathogenic