infection
noun
Simple meaning
An uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnfehkshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈfɛkʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host.
A disease caused by such presence of a pathogen.
pathology
The act or process of infecting.
A visible sign of such a disease, such as the suppuration of a wound.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host.
Used this way, infection is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use infection
- “Ambitious men are led astray by an infection that is almost unavoidable.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid.
Bacterial infection limited to a specific organ or region especially one causing symptoms elsewhere.
An inflammatory condition caused by a fungus.
The specific site in the body where an infection originates.
Infection of the lower respiratory tract.
An infection that is acquired at a hospital or other healthcare facility.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.