POPULAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does popular mean? 

• POPULAR (adjective)
  The adjective POPULAR has 4 senses:

1. regarded with great favor, approval, or affection especially by the general public

2. carried on by or for the people (or citizens) at large

3. representing or appealing to or adapted for the benefit of the people at large

4. (of music or art) new and of general appeal (especially among young people)

  Familiarity information: POPULAR used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POPULAR (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Regarded with great favor, approval, or affection especially by the general public

Context example:

cabbage patch dolls are no longer popular

Similar:

best-selling (selling in great numbers)

fashionable; in fashion (popular and considered appealing or fashionable at the time)

favorite; favourite (appealing to the general public)

hot (very popular or successful)

touristed; touristy (visited by throngs of tourists)

Attribute:

popularity (the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after)

Antonym:

unpopular (regarded with disfavor or lacking general approval)

Derivation:

popularity (the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Carried on by or for the people (or citizens) at large

Context example:

institutions of popular government

Similar:

democratic (characterized by or advocating or based upon the principles of democracy or social equality)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Representing or appealing to or adapted for the benefit of the people at large

Synonyms:

democratic; popular

Context example:

popular fiction

Similar:

common (having no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(of music or art) new and of general appeal (especially among young people)

Synonyms:

pop; popular

Similar:

nonclassical (not classical)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Derivation:

popularity (the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after)

 Context examples 

Indeed, watermelon is one of the world’s most popular fruits.

(Harvesting genes to improve watermelons, National Science Foundation)

“He don’t seem a very popular character,” observed the latter.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The lacZ gene is a popular reporter gene in transfection experiments because its product, b-galactosidase, is very stable, resistant to proteolytic degradation, and easily assayed.

(LacZ Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

Make a good, popular book, and get as much money as you can.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know him.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These materials perform well together, which is why lithium-ion batteries have become increasingly popular.

(Creating Better Lithium-Ion Batteries Made Possible with New Discovery, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Marie Devine, the maid, was as popular as her mistress.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Your opinions, like your clothes, were ready made; your acts were shaped by popular approval.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

These words from a man as popular as Aylward decided many of the waverers, and a shout of approval burst from his audience.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was not generally popular among the undergraduates, though it always seemed to me that what was set down as pride was really an attempt to cover extreme natural diffidence.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)