popular
- adjective
- /ˈpɑpjələr/
- It's very popular in Russia.
- most popular
- become popular
- popular culture
This is a name that has been very popular on the name charts.
- This is a name that has been very popular on the name charts.
- He talks about LGBT rights, doesn't make him popular, but he is doing that.
- OK, well, it was, it was popular way back before that too.
- Instead, you did the popular thing, which was to go and get numb.
- No, if you're popular, there's just the numbers.
Examples
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He is the host of one of the most popular shows, JK News.
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Her name is already the third most popular topic in our comments.
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This is a really popular book club book.
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We're all very popular in this town.
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They host the two most popular TV shows in Russia.
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Elizabeth Warren, hugely popular on the left right now.
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She is the most popular girl in town.
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And of course, you're the host of the popular podcast The Drive.
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The string and wind instruments used in school ensembles were once popular in our society.
Academic text (2011) -
This is one of the most popular books among college students.
Synonyms
Very popular and wanted by many people
Happening in many places or among many people
Popular now because it follows the current style
Very popular and bought by many people, like books or albums
Common in many places or among many people at a certain time
Wanted by many people
Very popular and fashionable at a certain time
Wanted by many people
Popular now with many people
Very popular with a certain group of people
Antonyms
Compounds
A Palestinian left-wing group that carries out armed attacks against Israel
The official name of Algeria, a country in North Africa
A Chilean armed group formed in the 1980s that used violence to fight the military government
A Palestinian political group formed in 1967 that carried out armed attacks against Israel
A Palestinian group that supports left-wing revolution and uses political and armed action
A Palestinian political group that uses armed attacks for its goals
A Palestinian armed group that split from al-Fatah in 1967 and attacked Israel
How Popular
Surface Forms
Morphology
popular = people (semi-transparent) = popul + ar
The adjective means 'of the people' which relates to 'people', but the form uses Latin-derived 'popul-' and the suffix '-ar' rather than a transparent modern English base, so the connection may not be obvious to all learners.
Etymology
Popular comes from the Latin populus, meaning 'people', and it shares the same root as population. So when something is popular, it is liked or enjoyed by many people — the public likes it.