Meaning & use
non-contagious
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Not able to be spread from one person or animal to another, especially of a disease.
Grammar: Describes a noun: 'a non-contagious disease'. It is not usually used in the comparative form.
Patterns
- non-contagious disease
- non-contagious condition
- be non-contagious
The doctor explained that the rash was non-contagious.
Cancer is generally non-contagious.
He was relieved to hear that his condition was non-contagious.
Common combinations
- non-contagious disease
- Diabetes is a non-contagious disease.
- non-contagious condition
- The skin condition is non-contagious and easily treated.
- highly contagious
- Measles is highly contagious, unlike this non-contagious infection.
Synonyms and how they differ
- non-infectious
- Often used in the same way, but technically means not caused by a pathogen, while 'non-contagious' means not spread between people.
- non-communicable
- A formal medical term for diseases that do not spread from person to person.
Opposites
Word family
- contagion noun
- The spreading of a disease by contact.
- contagious adjective
- Able to be spread from one person to another.
Commonly confused: non-contagious or non-infectious?
non-contagious vs non-infectious
'Non-contagious' means it does not spread between people; 'non-infectious' means it is not caused by a germ. A disease can be infectious but not contagious, or contagious but not infectious, so the difference matters in medical contexts.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'non-contagious' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Non-contagious' means it does not spread from person to person, so isolation is not needed. The other options suggest the opposite meaning or add unrelated ideas.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “non-contagious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.