What it means
بیماری واگیردار (bimâri-ye vâgirdâr) means a contagious or infectious disease, one that passes from person to person. Every part of this phrase is native Persian: بیماری (bimâri) means illness, and واگیردار (vâgirdâr) breaks down into وا (vâ), a separating prefix, گیر (gir) from گرفتن (gereftan) meaning to catch or to take hold, and دار (dâr), a suffix meaning possessing or having. So واگیردار literally means one that can be caught or spread. An alternative formal term is بیماری عفونی (bimâri-ye ofuni), using the Arabic-origin word عفونی (infectious), but واگیردار is the native Persian option and is widely understood by all speakers.
How to use it
- سرماخوردگی یه بیماری واگیرداره. (sarmâkhordegi ye bimâri-ye vâgirdâr-e) “A cold is a contagious disease.”
- در صورت بیماری واگیردار باید در خانه بمونی. (dar soorate bimâri-ye vâgirdâr bâyad dar khâne bemuni) “If you have a contagious disease you should stay home.”
- بعضی بیماریهای واگیردار با واکسن قابل پیشگیرین. (ba’zi bimârihâye vâgirdâr bâ vâksan qâbel-e pishgirin) “Some contagious diseases are preventable with vaccines.”
- کرونا یه بیماری واگیردار بود که همه جای دنیا رو گرفت. (koronâ ye bimâri-ye vâgirdâr bud ke hame jâye donyâ ro gereft) “COVID was a contagious disease that spread everywhere in the world.”
Cultural note
During the COVID-19 pandemic, بیماری واگیردار became one of the most-heard phrases in Iranian daily life and media broadcasts. Iran was among the earliest and hardest-hit countries outside China in early 2020, and the phrase entered common speech in a way it had not before. Historically, outbreaks of واگیردار diseases including cholera, typhus, and smallpox shaped public health law in Iran, with the first modern quarantine regulations dating to the late Qajar period. Public health messaging today often pairs واگیردار with پیشگیری to emphasize that contagious diseases are preventable.