populous
Americanadjective
-
full of residents or inhabitants, as a region; heavily populated.
-
jammed or crowded with people.
There's no more populous place than Times Square on New Year's Eve.
-
forming or comprising a large number or quantity.
Because of epidemics the tribes are not nearly so populous as they once were.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonpopulous adjective
- nonpopulously adverb
- nonpopulousness noun
- overpopulous adjective
- overpopulously adverb
- overpopulousness noun
- populously adverb
- populousness noun
- unpopulous adjective
- unpopulously adverb
- unpopulousness noun
Etymology
Origin of populous
1400–50; late Middle English populus < Latin populōsus. See people, -ous
Explanation
A populous place is full of people. If you left your cabin in the Maine woods to spend the weekend in New York City, you'd be particularly aware of how populous the city is. Anything that's dense with people can be described as populous, like the country of China or the city of Mumbai or even a crowded airport. Populous is a Latin word that means simply "people." It was adopted by English in the 15th century to mean "full of people." The adjective populous is easy to confuse with the noun populace, "the people who live in a country," especially since they are homonyms, or words that sound exactly the same.
Vocabulary lists containing populous
Much Ado: Synonyms for "Many"
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We the People: Popul
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"Othello" by William Shakespeare, Act IV-V
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Health and Human Services secretary had been mired in the single digits in polling to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom and lead the nation’s most populous state.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
But his and millions of others' commutes have been snarled by brutal temperatures as Africa's most populous country fights a heatwave.
From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026
A smaller 2026 crop, with rising demand for livestock feed in some of the most populous countries, including China and India, will put pressure on global corn prices, affecting everyone regardless of their nationality.
From Salon • Apr. 8, 2026
The revenue-share deal was agreed for Vena’s 204-megawatt Bellambi Heights battery energy storage system project in New South Wales, home to the city of Sydney and Australia’s most populous state.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
Mighty Volantis, grandest and most populous of the Nine Free Cities.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
