noncommunicable
noncommunicable — adjective
- noncommunicablepositive
- more noncommunicablecomparative
- most noncommunicablesuperlative
1. used to describe a disease that cannot spread from one person to another through
used to describe a disease that cannot spread from one person to another through contact or the air.
Heart disease and diabetes are noncommunicable, so family members cannot catch them from a patient.
Maeve learned that cancer is noncommunicable, unlike the flu that spreads through a school.
that-clause: [person] + learned + that + [disease] + is noncommunicable
The WHO report shows that noncommunicable diseases now cause more deaths than infectious ones.
Dr. Tariq explained that asthma is a noncommunicable condition, so classmates cannot catch it.
Unlike the flu, which spreads easily, diabetes is noncommunicable and cannot pass between schoolmates.
- noninfectious
focuses on absence of a pathogen rather than person-to-person spread; a broken leg is noninfectious but not noncommunicable
- nontransmissible
broader and less common in everyday health writing; can also describe animal-to-human diseases that do not pass
- chronic
refers to long duration rather than transmission; many noncommunicable diseases are also chronic, but the terms are not interchangeable
- communicable
direct opposite: a disease that can be passed between people
- infectious
emphasizes the presence of a pathogen that can be transmitted
- contagious
implies easy person-to-person spread through casual contact
用法筆記
Common in medical and public-health writing. The diseases most often described as noncommunicable are heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory conditions — collectively known as NCDs (noncommunicable diseases).