Meanings
- colloquialuncountableMononucleosis.
It was in a college, West Point, that infectious mononucleosis won a romantic reputation. . . . Investigators at a girls' school also found post-vacation peaks, and mono became known as the "kissing disease".
1961 February, “What in the world is Mononucleosis?”, in Kiplinger Magazine, retrieved 19 Oct 2010, page 30
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan acute disease characterized by fever and swollen lymph nodes and an abnormal increase of mononuclear leucocytes or monocytes in the bloodstream; not highly contagious; some believe it can be transmitted by kissing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
So called because it may be transmitted through kissing.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Hungarian csókbetegség
- csókbetegségmononucleosis
Spanish enfermedad del beso
- enfermedad del besomononucleosis
Swedish kyssjuka
- kyssjukamononucleosis
Cite this entry
kissing disease. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kissing%20disease
“kissing disease.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kissing%20disease. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kissing disease,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kissing%20disease.
Source: kissing disease on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.