What does contagiar in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word contagiar in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use contagiar in Spanish.

The word contagiar in Spanish means give, pass on, catch, be infected with, be infected by, infect others with your enthusiasm, infect with laughter. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word contagiar

give

verbo transitivo (transmitir enfermedad)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Cuando Alicia tuvo paperas contagió a sus hermanos.
When Alice had mumps she gave it to her siblings.

pass on

verbo transitivo (figurado (transmitir emoción)

El joven emprendedor tenía tanta ilusión que logró contagiarla al resto del grupo. Mariana es muy divertida y les contagia a otros el buen ánimo en la oficina.
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. Her good mood rubbed off on others and cheered everybody up.

catch

verbo pronominal (enfermarse por contagio) (informal)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Estamos en temporada de gripe: lávate las manos para evitar contagiarte. Mis hijos se contagiaron de varicela en el colegio.
My children caught chickenpox at school.

be infected with, be infected by

verbo pronominal (figurado (emoción: adquirir) (figurative)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Los amigos de Carolina se contagiaron de su alegría.
Carolina's friends were infected by (or: with) her joy.

infect others with your enthusiasm

locución verbal (transmitir alegría)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Mariana es muy divertida y les contagia a otros el buen ánimo en la oficina.

infect with laughter

locución verbal (hacer reír)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Nos metimos en problemas porque Alberto nos contagió la risa en clase.

Let's learn Spanish

So now that you know more about the meaning of contagiar in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

Do you know about Spanish

Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.