contagious
/kənˈteɪ.d͡ʒəs/adjective
contagious is spelled C-O-N-T-A-G-I-O-U-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, contagious means “Easily transmitted to others” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in contagious?
| Letters | 10: C-O-N-T-A-G-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is contagious?
Contagious appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce contagious?
- /kənˈteɪ.d͡ʒəs/
Contagious has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-contagious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of contagious
- more contagious comparative
- most contagious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does contagious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Easily transmitted to others.
Last year's flu strain was so contagious that everybody in town got sick!
- 2
Easily passed on to others.
contagious enthusiasm; infectious laughter
- 3
Having a disease that can be transmitted to another person.
They were highly contagious, spreading bacteria to other people.
- 4
Contiguous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Contagious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense of a disease, easily transmitted to others:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | contagieux |
| German | ansteckend, kontagiös |
| Portuguese | contagiante, contagioso |
| Spanish | contagioso, infeccioso, contagiante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does contagious come from?
From Old French contagieus, from Late Latin contagiosus, from contagio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).