populous

adjective

pop·u·lous | \ ˈpä-pyə-ləs

Definition of populous

1a : densely populated

b : having a large population

2a : numerous

b : filled to capacity

Other Words from populous Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about populous

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Did You Know?

With a metropolitan area of more than 20 million people, Mexico City could be called the world's second or third most populous city. And the nearby Aztec city of Tenochtitlán was one of the largest cities in the world even when Hernán Cortés arrived there in 1519. But by the time Cortés conquered the city in 1521 it wasn't nearly so populous, since European diseases had greatly reduced the population. Avoid confusing populous and populace, which are pronounced exactly the same.

Examples of populous in a Sentence

the most populous state in the U.S.

Recent Examples on the Web

Rural companies’ main complaints focused on T-Mobile’s interactions with small telephone companies that serve less-populous areas. — Drew Fitzgerald, WSJ, "T-Mobile’s Sprint Takeover Comes Under New Attack," 13 Feb. 2019 Nuclear plants could replace current coal or natural gas plants, or supplement solar or wind installations in populous areas. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 'Green New Deal' Wants to Get Rid of Nuclear Power. That's a Great Idea.," 8 Feb. 2019 The new vote count is also remarkable in its own right: The latest addition of votes comes heavily from Maricopa County, one of Arizona’s most populous areas and the home to cities like Phoenix and Scottsdale. — Li Zhou, Vox, "Democrat Kyrsten Sinema pulls ahead in Arizona Senate race," 9 Nov. 2018 The telcos' fiber deployments have mostly targeted more populous areas, which generally have cable providers. — Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, "Hate your Comcast broadband? Verizon might sell you 5G home Internet," 5 Oct. 2018 Renacci struggled in the less populous areas during the May Primary against his Republican opponent, Cleveland-area businessman Mike Gibbons. — Scott Wartman, Cincinnati.com, "In Ohio, Democratic U.S. Senator Sen. Sherrod Brown may ride Trump country to re-election," 2 July 2018 Of course, as Chait outlines in his column, the Electoral College was intentionally designed to empower a minority: those in less populous areas of the country who wanted to protect the institution of slavery. — Rebecca Traister, The Cut, "Summer of Rage," 29 June 2018 Critics pointed to early efforts on the part of a Hogan appointee to shift two early voter sites to less populous areas of Montgomery County — which led to accusations of voter suppression. — Faiz Siddiqui, Washington Post, "Maryland says nearly 19,000 could have difficulty voting in Tuesday’s primary due to computer glitch," 24 June 2018 For the first time, the wind poured the ash onto the most populous areas of coastal Oregon and Washington. — sandiegouniontribune.com, "May 26, 1980: Mount St. Helens explodes again," 26 May 2018

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