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Spell Bee Word: contagious


Basic Details

Word: Contagious

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Able to spread from one person to another by touch or being close, like a cold. A laugh or a mood can be contagious too.

Synonyms: infectious, catching

Antonyms: non-infectious

Word origin: Comes from Latin contagio, 'touching', from contingere, 'to touch'.

How to Spell Contagious

Syllables: con - ta - gious

Tricky part: The ending is gious, with an i, as in religious. It is not geous, which belongs to words like courageous.

Watch out for: contageous, contagous, contagius

Memory tip: Contagious and religious share the same tail: gious. Picture the i as a little germ hiding before the ous.

Usage Examples

Example 1: Chickenpox is contagious, so Kabir stayed home for a week.

Example 2: Her giggle was so contagious that the whole bus was laughing.

Example 3: Wash your hands often when a contagious flu is going round.

Fun Fact

Yawning is famously contagious: seeing or even reading about someone yawning often makes people yawn too.

Practise the CREST Way

Spell-o-Spell

Choose the correctly spelt word:

a) contagious
b) nutritous
c) religous
d) ambitous

Show answer

a) contagious. Religious, nutritious and ambitious all need an i before ous, just as contagious has.

Word Connection

Choose the synonym of the word:

contagious

a) healthy
b) harmless
c) infectious
d) curable

Show answer

c) infectious. Infectious also means it can spread from person to person.

Mingle-Mangle

Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:

goitsunoca

a) contagious
b) outrageous
c) contiguous
d) courageous

Show answer

a) contagious. Only one u is given, so contiguous is out; there is no r for courageous or outrageous.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of these is contagious?

a) a broken arm
b) a sprained ankle
c) a cut finger
d) the common cold

Show answer

d) the common cold

2. If a smile is contagious, it ____.

a) hurts your face
b) lasts a second
c) makes others smile too
d) is hidden

Show answer

c) makes others smile too

Associated Words

forwardbenddiscrepancyignorepaternity
embarrassedhazydevalueexasperatenecessary

Next steps

How to participate in CREST International Spell Bee

The CREST International Spell Bee (CSB) is conducted in two editions – CREST International Spell Bee - Summer (CSB) and CREST International Spell Bee - Winter (CSBW) – giving students across the globe an opportunity to showcase and enhance their spelling proficiency. Designed for young learners from Senior KG to Class 8, the competition focuses on word-building, pronunciation, and vocabulary enrichment, helping students develop strong linguistic skills.

Steps to Participate:

Step 1: Visit the registration page and complete the registration with your desired subject.

Step 2: After Registration done, do login at www.crestolympiads.com/login.

Step 3: After login, go to dashboard and click on Book slot/Take Exam

Step 4: Schedule your exam date and preferred time.

Step 5: Log in with your credentials on the exam day at the scheduled time and take the exam.

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