How to Use contagious in a Sentence

contagious

adjective
  • I have a cold and I'm still contagious.
  • It's a highly contagious virus.
  • I'm sick, but the doctor says I'm not contagious.
  • Once the scabs fall off, the person is no longer contagious, the CDC says.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN, 23 May 2022
  • The highly contagious virus presents as sores in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet.
    — Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2022
  • And then, of course, Michael Potts laughed, which is contagious.
    — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
  • The work ethic was contagious, and that’s how Necas fit in.
    — Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 2 Feb. 2025
  • The virus can stay active and contagious in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours.
    — Korin Miller, Health, 19 Jan. 2024
  • The trick here is to sauté the mirepoix until the flavors bloom — and are at their most contagious.
    — Michelle Huneven, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
  • The scoring got contagious as the Owls pounded away inside to close out the game.
    — Timothy Dashiell, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2024
  • But the beat was contagious and the crowd was jubilant.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 May 2022
  • And the disease was so contagious that farmers often had to kill their birds to avoid the flu.
    — Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2023
  • For starters, the pox isn’t nearly as contagious as Covid.
    — David Axe, Rolling Stone, 23 May 2022
  • Your love and spirit is contagious to all who've met you.
    — Diana Pearl, Peoplemag, 5 Aug. 2022
  • The crowd’s energy was contagious, the songs were karaoke-esque and heat from the pyro could be felt all the way to the back of the open-air space.
    — Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2022
  • Driving the news: Texas is home to the largest outbreak of the disease in the last 30 years and the first death in a decade from the highly contagious illness.
    — Kristal Dixon, Axios, 5 Mar. 2025
  • The factors that make a virus more contagious are varied.
    — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Her jumps were soaring through the air and her school spirit was contagious.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 28 Feb. 2023
  • The Nets had to be the more physical team to have any chance in Houston and Sharpe set the tone — and his effort was contagious.
    — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 2 Feb. 2025
  • The great concern is that the virus will evolve and become more contagious among humans.
    — Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 17 June 2024
  • Is contagious standard gone on a team needing to build grit to their grandeur?
    — Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2024
  • Again, this is not Covid-19 -- this virus is not nearly as contagious.
    — Katia Hetter, CNN, 24 Aug. 2022
  • None of the birds in the park’s collection are believed to have been exposed to the highly contagious virus.
    — Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Nov. 2022
  • The spirit of the place is contagious, wrapping you up in nostalgia and psyching you up for the game.
    — Rebecca Deurlein, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024
  • The dogs’ excitement is contagious and hasn’t died down at all.
    — Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 18 Mar. 2024
  • The most contagious yet, and numbers are rising again across the nation.
    — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 11 July 2022
  • The disease is not contagious and can’t spread from human to human.
    — Bruce Haring, Deadline, 3 Aug. 2024
  • Ronnie always came to practice with a smile on this face and his passion for the game was contagious.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Dec. 2022
  • Experts make clear that suicide isn’t contagious like the flu.
    — Max Kutner, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Dec. 2024
  • For a virus as contagious as measles, vaccine coverage needs to remain above 95 percent to prevent outbreaks.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contagious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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