Infectious diseases are caused by prions, viruses, rickettsia, chlamydia, bacteria, pathogenic fungi and protozoa.
Source: tatoeba (647719)
Pathogenic
/pæθəˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/
Synonyms for "pathogenic" (50 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: bacterial ecosystem, bad, bad for, benign, blighting.
- Sentence evidence is available for pathogenic, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, moby, opengloss, wordnet, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "pathogenic".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "pathogenic"
Keep "pathogenic" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "pathogenic" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "pathogenic", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "pathogenic" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
6 entriesbiological propertydisease causationharmless statemetaphorical descriptionnonpathogenic statussocial pathology
More specific
7 entriesnonpathogenic bacterianonpathogenic fungipathogenic bacteriapathogenic beliefpathogenic fungipathogenic ideapathogenic viruses
Collocations
6 entriespathogenic bacteriapathogenic fungipathogenic potentialpathogenic strainspathogenic virusespathogenicity island
Inflections
2 entriesmore pathogenicmost pathogenic
Derivations
4 entriessimilar
1 entriesSample sentences
4 total sentences available.
Towards the end of the 1990s, several Asian countries lived one of their worst health nightmares. A new, highly pathogenic, strain of Avian Influenza known as H5N1 killed hundreds of people. Over the next years, more than 9-million chickens were destroyed in an effort to stem the epidemic. Scientists believe the H5N1 virus was transmitted from wild birds to domestic poultry and pigs, which then passed it to humans. H5N1 is just the latest of various influenza strains that have killed up to 100 million people over the last century.
Source: tatoeba (12247679)
While the environment is teeming with bacteria and fungi, most are not pathogenic.
Source: wiktionary
Melogenic music represents the wide middle area between the extremes of logogenic and pathogenic music.
Source: wiktionary
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "pathogenic"?
Closest matches include bacterial ecosystem, bad, bad for, benign, blighting.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "pathogenic"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.