Pathogen
Pathogen noun - Any disease-producing agent (especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism).
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Synonyms for Pathogen
Virus and pathogen are semantically related in germ topic. In some cases you can use "Virus" instead a noun "Pathogen", when it comes to topics like thing, bacteria, micro-organism, bacterium.
Nearby Words: pathogenic, pathogenous
Virus
Virus noun - (virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein.
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Synonyms for Virus
Pathogen and virus are semantically related in bacterium topic. You can use "Pathogen" instead a noun "Virus", if it concerns topics such as thing, germ, micro-organism.
Nearby Word: viral
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
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The Plague: When the Soviets and the United States launch biological warheads at each other, Alfie tries to neutralize them, but turned the pathogen into a mutagenic virus instead.
- You could be more general and use the all-inclusive "pathogen", but "virus" just sounds cooler and scarier.
Source: Virus Misnomer - On TV, shows will consistently refer to any disease-causing pathogen as a virus.
Source: Virus Misnomer
Cite this Source
Virus and Pathogen. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/pathogen/virus
Pathogen & Virus. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/pathogen/virus>.
Virus or Pathogen. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/pathogen/virus.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "pathogen" and "virus" have occurred on timeline