viral
English meaning: Viral
Definition
Spreading quickly and widely, especially through online sharing.
Example
“The short clip went viral overnight, reaching millions of viewers within a day.”
Another example: “The doctor said it was a viral infection that antibiotics would not help.”
Usage — When, Where & How
As an adjective, spreading rapidly online ("go viral"); in medicine, relating to or caused by a virus. The online sense is informal and very common; the medical sense is technical. Context separates them clearly.
Etymology & Origin
English — Origin & History
From 'virus'; the metaphor for fast online spread emerged in the late 1990s.
Synonyms
- trending
- contagious
- widespread
Antonyms / Opposites
- bacterial
Related Words
- capsid
- virion
- replication
- hemorrhagic
- hepatitis
- encephalitis
- herpes
- antiviral
- polymerase
- rna
- viruses
- cytoplasm
Common Collocations
- go viral
- viral video
- viral content
- viral infection
- viral marketing
Word Forms
viral (adj); virally (adv); virus (n)
Word Tools
Literary Heritage
“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
/To thine own self be true/
“Be honest with yourself — and as naturally as night follows day, you will be unable to be false to others.”
“I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?”
/I'm nobody! Who are you?/
“I am nobody — and that quiet anonymity is more honest than the noise of public fame.”
Images
CC-licensed · free to useVideo
Language information
- Language
- English
- English
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Indo-European
- Speakers
- 1.5B