as in inhabited
to supply with inhabitants
a small island populated only by woodland creatures
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Recent Examples of populated
Huron was largely a farming town populated by immigrants whose lives and culture influenced his work.
—
Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 4 May 2026
Going back to the Top 10 favorites of 2025, the rest of the list was almost entirely populated by movies.
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 4 May 2026
If other women populated her trading floor at all.
—Literary Hub, 4 May 2026
Meanwhile, early versions of mollusks and sponges populated the seafloor as jellyfish floated above.
—Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 1 May 2026
There are flashes of overwhelming tenderness and wind-stopping moments, and the songs are generally rich and full of character, populated by her usual cast of gay witches, Southern Baptist girls, medicine women, saints, and pre-Christian gods.
—Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 30 Apr. 2026
There were long lines for gas, yes, but populated mostly by people who wanted to save a few bucks at Costco.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
In particular, the center group remains populated with considerable talent.
—Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2026
These are digital environments populated by AI agents with goals, memories, and incentives—each one designed to approximate a real-world behavioral profile.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026
Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 4 May 2026
Going back to the Top 10 favorites of 2025, the rest of the list was almost entirely populated by movies.
—James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 4 May 2026
If other women populated her trading floor at all.
—Literary Hub, 4 May 2026
Meanwhile, early versions of mollusks and sponges populated the seafloor as jellyfish floated above.
—Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 1 May 2026
There are flashes of overwhelming tenderness and wind-stopping moments, and the songs are generally rich and full of character, populated by her usual cast of gay witches, Southern Baptist girls, medicine women, saints, and pre-Christian gods.
—Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 30 Apr. 2026
There were long lines for gas, yes, but populated mostly by people who wanted to save a few bucks at Costco.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
In particular, the center group remains populated with considerable talent.
—Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2026
These are digital environments populated by AI agents with goals, memories, and incentives—each one designed to approximate a real-world behavioral profile.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populated
inhabited
Verb
-
The trend took off in early April, with users on social media posting videos of themselves — sometimes inexplicably in costume — entering multiple properties owned or inhabited in some way by the Church of Scientology.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Archeological evidence shows that the land may have been inhabited by the native Wappo people as early as 2000 BC.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Populated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populated. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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