depopulate
Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
depopulatesimple
-
depopulatessimple
-
have depopulatedperfect
-
has depopulatedperfect
-
am depopulatingprogressive
-
are depopulatingprogressive
-
is depopulatingprogressive
-
have been depopulatingperfect progressive
-
has been depopulatingperfect progressive
Past
-
depopulatedsimple
-
had depopulatedperfect
-
was depopulatingprogressive
-
were depopulatingprogressive
-
had been depopulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of depopulate
1525–35; < Latin dēpopulātus devastated (past participle of dēpopulārī ), equivalent to dē- de- + populātus; see populate
Vocabulary lists containing depopulate
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.
See Examples For:
Mr Gates has long been the subject of multiple conspiracy theories - the most extreme of which claim that he is part of an effort to depopulate the world.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2024
County’s new Justice, Care and Opportunities Department established last year to depopulate, and eventually close, Men’s Central Jail by expanding community care for people being diverted or released from the justice system.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2023
The scale of a fishing operation can also make a big difference: overly intensive methods of catching fish can depopulate entire schools at once and cause serious imbalances in marine ecosystems.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2022
“The faster we can get on site and depopulate the birds that remain on site, the better,” Minnesota State Veterinarian Beth Thompson said.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
A mass exodus from North Korea could substantially depopulate the country, undermine its already inadequate capacity to grow food, and weaken—or perhaps even topple—the gov-ernment.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui depopulates two leagues of country near Cuzco XXXIII.
From History of the Incas by Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
In the Hebrides the failure of a harvest almost depopulates an island.
From The Lusiad or The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem by Camões, Luís de
Its supposed events take place in the twenty-first century of our era, when a devouring plague depopulates by degrees the whole world, until the narrator remains, to his own belief, the only surviving soul.
From The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Volume II (of 2) by Marshall, Florence A. Thomas
Hence, "the horror of the taille depopulates the rural districts, concentrating in the towns all the talents and all the capital5254."
From The Ancient Regime by Durand, John
On Victoria Nyanza this disease depopulates whole villages.
From In Desert and Wilderness by Sienkiewicz, Henryk
Whatever its actual length, there is no doubting the war’s traumatic impact upon France, where swaths of countryside were depopulated for decades, or the grievous toll upon combatants and civilians alike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
The fear is that if these valleys become depopulated, other aspects of unique mountain culture could be lost too - like the Tschäggättä, traditional wooden masks, unique to the Loetschental valley.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025
In Washington, D.C., the president is holed up in the White House; in a spookily depopulated New York, desperate people wait for water rations.
From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
From a prewar population of about 31,000, the town has been depopulated and left in ruins.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2024
After a century of war, Volantis found herself broken, bankrupt, and depopulated.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Are there other ways that an urban community could improve its fire resilience short of depopulating and creating large fire breaks between homes?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2025
But when is the last time you read about anything good taking place in a deindustrialized, depopulating, or aging community?
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2024
The outer islands are steadily depopulating, as the appeal of making a life through tuna fishing and coconut farming along their crushed-coral seashores shrinks.
From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2024
While most villages in Portugal’s interior are slowly depopulating, even former residents come back for these feasts.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2023
If we debar tillage, we give scope to the depopulating.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 8 "Chariot" to "Chatelaine" by Various
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.
