They have names that were popular a century ago.
He is a popular guy in school.
Spicy foods have become increasingly popular.
That is a very popular misconception.
The word “groovy” was popular in the 1960s but it's outdated now.
Her theories are popular among social scientists.
a popular history of physics

Recent Examples of popular from the Web

The always popular and well-run National Open in Las Vegas was won by Romanian/US GM Ioan Chirila, 6/7 and $8,000.

— chris chase, BostonGlobe.com, "Chess notes," 14 July 2018
From Friday to Sunday, July 6 to 8, some of the world's most popular and celebrated DJs gave their best sides to the roaring crowds.

— kat bein, Billboard, "DJ Snake, Afrojack, Carl Cox & More Full Sets From Ultra Europe 2018," 13 July 2018
The Trump administration’s burgeoning automotive trade war could threaten U.S. production of some of automakers’ most popular and profitable vehicles.

— mark phelan, Detroit Free Press, "Trump's trade war could threaten US pickup production and jobs," 13 July 2018
Audiences have fallen in love with The Kissing Booth, the Beth Reekles's Wattpad short story turned YA novel and most recently adapted into a wildly-popular Netflix Original starring Joey King, Joel Courtney, and Jacob Elordi.

— hanna lustig, Teen Vogue, "“The Kissing Booth” Sequel: Everything We Know About the Possible Movie," 12 July 2018
The most popular and effective humectants are glycerin and hyaluronic acid.

— ashley weatherford, The Cut, "Everything You Need to Know About Putting Oils on Your Face," 12 July 2018
Charlee Bear Original and Bear Crunch dog treats are the most popular and commonly known products of Charlee Bear Products.

— erik s. hanley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "St. Francis-based Charlee Bear acquires paleolithic pet food brand Hound & Gatos," 11 July 2018
Back in the 1940s, Captain Marvel — who battled the genius worm Mr. Mind, and palled around with a talking tiger — was more popular and substantially more inventive than the drier and less whimsical Superman.

— noah berlatsky, The Verge, "The best superhero stories admit that superheroes are ridiculous," 11 July 2018
Mark had gotten convinced that what would make Facebook really popular and just sort of cement its position at schools was a way to send files around to other people—mostly just to trade music.

— adam fisher, WIRED, "Sex, Beer, and Coding: Inside Facebook’s Wild Early Days," 10 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'popular.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of popular

Latin popularis, from populus the people, a people

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1548

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

popular Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of popular

common, ordinary, plain, familiar, popular, vulgar mean generally met with and not in any way special, strange, or unusual. common implies usual everyday quality or frequency of occurrence

- a common error
- lacked common honesty

and may additionally suggest inferiority or coarseness.

- common manners

ordinary stresses conformance in quality or kind with the regular order of things.

- an ordinary pleasant summer day
- a very ordinary sort of man

plain is likely to suggest homely simplicity.

- plain hard-working people

familiar stresses the fact of being generally known and easily recognized.

- a familiar melody

popular applies to what is accepted by or prevalent among people in general sometimes in contrast to upper classes or special groups.

- a writer of popular romances

vulgar, otherwise similar to popular, is likely to carry derogatory connotations (as of inferiority or coarseness).

- souvenirs designed to appeal to the vulgar taste

Other Sociology Terms

bourgeois, ethos, eugenics, exurb, incommunicado, intelligentsia, megalopolis, metrosexual, mores, subculture

POPULAR Defined for English Language Learners

Definition of popular for English Language Learners

: liked or enjoyed by many people
: accepted, followed, used, or done by many people
: of, relating to, or coming from most of the people in a country, society, or group

POPULAR Defined for Kids

Definition of popular for Students

1 : of or relating to most of the people in a country or area

the popular vote

popular culture

2 : enjoyed or approved by many people

a popular game

3 : frequently encountered or widely accepted

popular opinion

—

popularly

adverb

a popularly held belief

Word Root of popular

The Latin word populus, meaning “people,” gives us the root popul. Words from the Latin populus have something to do with people. A population is the group of people living in a particular place. Anything popular is common among or enjoyed by many people. A place that is populous has many people living in it.