as in to inhabit
to supply with inhabitants
a small island populated only by woodland creatures
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Recent Examples of populate
The film follows a mission to colonize a distant planet, and takes place on a spaceship populated by an army of young people who will give birth to the generation that will ultimately do the colonizing.
—
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
As in much of McGuane’s fiction, the natural environment—in this case, the vitreous Florida flats, and the angler-tormenting tarpon, permit, and bonefish that populate them—provides the foil.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Revenues for the third film managed to improve upon the prior entry in the series about the grand houses and the servants and elite who populate them.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025
The Rio state government said the operation was its largest ever to target the Comando Vermelho gang, which controls the drug trade in several favelas - poor and densely populated settlements woven through the city's hilly oceanside terrain.
—Janaina Quinet, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for populate
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2025
As in much of McGuane’s fiction, the natural environment—in this case, the vitreous Florida flats, and the angler-tormenting tarpon, permit, and bonefish that populate them—provides the foil.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Revenues for the third film managed to improve upon the prior entry in the series about the grand houses and the servants and elite who populate them.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025
The Rio state government said the operation was its largest ever to target the Comando Vermelho gang, which controls the drug trade in several favelas - poor and densely populated settlements woven through the city's hilly oceanside terrain.
—Janaina Quinet, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for populate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populate
Verb
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Any of these entry points can become the path for ants, spiders, and rodents to inhabit the indoor space.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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The music video is a single shot of Welch in the back of a car, singing along in a suit, sporting shades and a cigar, both mocking and inhabiting the position of male dominance.—
Grace Byron,
New Yorker,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Throughout Humphreys County and Hickman County, peopled gathered with their churches for support and comfort in the days after the tragedy.—
Beth Warren,
Nashville Tennessean,
12 Oct. 2025
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The Master is the greatest of them all, a movie peopled by characters who are at once intensely human and also the stuff of otherworldly fables.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Populate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populate. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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