Meaning & use
transmittable
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Able to be passed from one person, animal, or thing to another, especially of a disease or a signal.
Grammar: Used after a linking verb or before a noun: the illness is transmittable; a transmittable disease.
Patterns
- transmittable disease
- transmittable to someone
- easily transmittable
- sexually transmittable
Some infections are transmittable before any symptoms appear.
The virus is easily transmittable in crowded rooms.
Doctors explained which diseases are transmittable through the air.
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Able to be sent or passed on to someone else, as of data, messages, or information.
Grammar: Common in technical writing about signals and files; usually comes before the noun.
Patterns
- transmittable data
- transmittable over a network
- transmittable by radio
The files are small and easily transmittable over a phone network.
Only transmittable data leaves the secure server.
The signal is transmittable across long distances.
Common combinations
- a transmittable disease
- Health workers tracked every transmittable disease in the region.
- transmittable to humans
- The infection is transmittable to humans from birds.
- easily transmittable
- Measles is highly contagious and easily transmittable.
- sexually transmittable
- The clinic offers free tests for sexually transmittable infections.
- transmittable over long distances
- The radio signal is transmittable over long distances.
Synonyms and how they differ
- contagious
- Use this for diseases that spread by direct contact between people; transmittable is wider and covers air, water, animals, or signals.
- infectious
- This describes a disease caused by germs that can enter the body; transmittable simply says it can pass from one to another.
- communicable
- A formal medical word for diseases that pass between people; transmittable is more general and also used for data.
- transferable
- This is used for skills, money, or tickets that can move to another owner, not usually for diseases.
Opposites
Word family
- transmit verb
- To send out or pass on something, such as a signal, disease, or message.
- transmission noun
- The act of sending or passing something on, or the system that does it.
- transmitter noun
- A device that sends out radio or television signals.
- transmissible adjective
- A more formal word with the same meaning as transmittable.
Commonly confused: transmittable or transmittable vs. transmissible? transmittable or transmittable vs. contagious?
transmittable vs transmittable vs. transmissible
Both mean the same, but transmissible is the more formal form you meet in medical reports; transmittable is the everyday choice.
transmittable vs transmittable vs. contagious
Contagious is stronger about person-to-person spread; transmittable only says the thing can be passed on at all.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'transmittable' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Transmittable' is an adjective followed by the preposition 'through' to name the route of spread. Option 1 adds an unnecessary 'to be'; option 2 wrongly uses 'very ... than' with a non-comparable adjective; option 3 mixes a verb with the adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “transmittable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.