Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
populous

populous

23 4.4
A place where many people live close together
  • adjective
  • /ˈpɑːpjələs/
translation icon : poblado
  • It's the sixth most populous country in the world.
  • the most populous
  • the world's most populous
  • populous country

With Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing fallen, Mao now stands at the head of the world's most populous nation.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous nation and the planet's largest archipelago.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The second most populous city in Wales is going to be Cardiff.

  • OK, now what's the next most populous city after Chicago?

  • Did you know Nevada is one of the most populous states in the Union now?

    The Life of Chuck (2025)

  • Indonesia is, after all, the fourth most populous country in the world.

    Academic text (2000)

  • After India and the United States, Brazil is the third most populous democracy.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Nigeria, with 115 million people, is the most populous country in Africa and the tenth in the world.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Nearly all the counties in Liberia were affected, including the populous capital of Monrovia.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Indonesia, initially the poorest and most populous OPEC member, was for years one of Asia's fastest-growing economies.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous nation, with a vast number of inhabitants.

Synonyms

crowded
vspopulous
222 1.0

Full of too many people to move or sit comfortably

describes neutral, general population density not an overfull condition
thickly settled
vspopulous
4.5

An area where many people live close together

is a concise formal adjective naming that same population density

Antonyms

uninhabited
20 4.0

A place with no people living there

underpopulated
1 6.1

A place with fewer people than usual for the area

How Populated

overcrowded
18 3.1
populous
23 4.4
populated
2.5
uninhabited
20 4.0

Surface Forms

populous positive

Morphology

populous = population + people (transparent) = popul + ous

The adjective is formed with the productive suffix '-ous' meaning 'full of', and learners who know 'population' or 'people' can readily infer 'populous' = 'having many people'.

Etymology

Populous comes from the Latin word populus, which means 'people', and you can see the same root in population. So, something populous is literally 'full of people', which is why it means having a large population.