Word
infect
Phoneticsin·fect, stress on the second syllable
US/ˌɪnˈfɛkt/
UK/ɪnfˈɛkt/
Definitions
01to spread disease
B1 · Intermediate Medicine
v. to pass a disease or bacteria to a person, animal, or plant.
v. to contaminate a living organism with a pathogen, causing the onset of illness or disease.
“The flu can easily infect everyone in the office if people don't stay home.”
“Public health officials were concerned that the new strain might infect a significant portion of the population before a vaccine could be distributed.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
02computing
B2 · Upper Intermediate Computing
v. to pass a harmful program or virus to a computer or a file.
v. to corrupt a computer system or data file by introducing a virus or malware.
“Be careful not to open suspicious emails, as they could infect your laptop.”
“The malware was designed to infect the entire corporate network by exploiting a vulnerability in the outdated server software.”
Synonyms
Collocations
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “infect” in context.
Verb
01. infect everyone with enthusiasm
“Her positive attitude began to infect everyone with enthusiasm for the new project.”
verb + noun + prep + noun
02. infect the wound with bacteria
“Touching the injury with dirty hands could infect the wound with harmful bacteria.”
verb + noun + prep + noun
03. risk infecting the entire population
“Failure to implement quarantine measures would risk infecting the entire population.”
verb + noun
Noun
04. capacity to infect cells
“Scientists are studying the virus's capacity to infect cells in the respiratory system.”
noun + infinitive
05. potential to infect people
“The researchers warned that the avian flu had the potential to infect people who work closely with birds.”
noun + infinitive
Adverb
06. deliberately infect a computer
“The hacker managed to deliberately infect the computer with a sophisticated strain of malware.”
adv + verb + noun
07. easily infect others
“The new variant of the virus is highly contagious and can easily infect others in crowded spaces.”
adv + verb + noun
Usage
The verb is transitive and requires a direct object; it often takes the preposition 'with' to specify the agent of contamination.
Real-World Examples
“The resulting 16 novel viruses were created to infect bacteria and pose no threat to people.” “It uses a common cold virus that infects chimpanzees that has been genetically modified to make it safe.” “The vaccine was engineered to work on all coronaviruses which would include all Covid variants as well as viruses that currently infect animals yet have the potential to start the next pandemic.” “The threat to humans is currently low, says the UK Health Security Agency, with almost all human cases linked to close contact with infected animals.” Etymology
From Middle French infect, from Latin infectus, perfect passive participle of inficiō (“dye, taint”).
Borrowed from Latin īnfectus, equivalent to in- (“not”) + factus, perfect passive participle of faciō (“to do, make”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
VERB
NOUN
ADJECTIVE
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- C1 · AdvancedOxford
- Updated
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