Superspreader
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person infected with a pathogen who is responsible for spreading it to many other people.
"In the SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] outbreak, New York forcibly quarantined a man suspected of having the disease after he refused to isolate himself. That's a real breach of liberty, but suppose he had been an irresponsible superspreader like Typhoid Mary and caused the disease to spin out of control?"
- 2 An event or place which leads to the spread of an infectious disease to many people. also, attributive
"In June, the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union], on behalf of half a dozen detainees housed in various Orange County jails, sued the sheriff in state court, arguing that the jails were superspreaders-in-waiting: the cramped quarters, inadequate cleaning protocols, and severely limited hygiene make jails an ideal hunting ground for the virus."
- 3 A person or thing responsible for the widespread distribution of something regarded as dangerous or undesirable (for example, misinformation). broadly
"But whether they intend it or not, celebrities, politicians and others with large online followings can be superspreaders – not of the coronavirus but of dangerous or false information."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"The new surge coincides with an acute shortage of vaccines in some Indian states, along with the annual Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, on the Ganges River, where millions of Hindu devotees bathe to seek absolution, raising fears it could evolve into a superspreader event."
Etymology
From super- (“superior”) + spreader.
More for "superspreader"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.