as in inhabited
to supply with inhabitants
a small island populated only by woodland creatures
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Recent Examples of populated
This is how the Greater Buenos Aires area was populated, a kind of buffer zone between Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina where migrants from other regions and countries found affordable housing.
—
Karla Gachet, NPR, 15 Oct. 2025
The movie, which posits an impending nuclear strike on a major American city, is a flimsy yet high-minded piece of doomsday schlock, largely populated by ciphers in suits and drained of the pulp pleasures that schlock, at its best, can afford.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025
The people who populated her life, referred to always by their full names.
—Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025
Local officials aware of that history have expressed a desire to transfer a parcel of lakeshore land back to the Onondagas, one of the native peoples who populated and governed much of upstate New York and parts of Canada before the American Revolution.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2025
Checkmate has a storied history in the DC Comics, first appearing in 1988 and populated mostly with DC’s anti-heroes; Peacemaker and Vigilante were early members, and Bordeaux has also been a prominent operative.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 10 Oct. 2025
Other than Costner, the show was largely populated with relatively unknown actors — Costner was clearly the big fish in this smallish pond.
—Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, the women who populated our world view included Madonna, Sinead O’Connor, Whitney Houston, the Facts of Life women and Oprah.
—Glynnis MacNicol, Flow Space, 8 Oct. 2025
The Addiction, which also stars Ferrara fave Christopher Walken, benefits from low-budget grit, as it's populated with the authentic Manhattan characters and locations that one associates with Ferrara's best work and lensed by Ken Kelsch in sumptuous black and white.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
Karla Gachet, NPR, 15 Oct. 2025
The movie, which posits an impending nuclear strike on a major American city, is a flimsy yet high-minded piece of doomsday schlock, largely populated by ciphers in suits and drained of the pulp pleasures that schlock, at its best, can afford.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025
The people who populated her life, referred to always by their full names.
—Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025
Local officials aware of that history have expressed a desire to transfer a parcel of lakeshore land back to the Onondagas, one of the native peoples who populated and governed much of upstate New York and parts of Canada before the American Revolution.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2025
Checkmate has a storied history in the DC Comics, first appearing in 1988 and populated mostly with DC’s anti-heroes; Peacemaker and Vigilante were early members, and Bordeaux has also been a prominent operative.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 10 Oct. 2025
Other than Costner, the show was largely populated with relatively unknown actors — Costner was clearly the big fish in this smallish pond.
—Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, the women who populated our world view included Madonna, Sinead O’Connor, Whitney Houston, the Facts of Life women and Oprah.
—Glynnis MacNicol, Flow Space, 8 Oct. 2025
The Addiction, which also stars Ferrara fave Christopher Walken, benefits from low-budget grit, as it's populated with the authentic Manhattan characters and locations that one associates with Ferrara's best work and lensed by Ken Kelsch in sumptuous black and white.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populated
inhabited
Verb
-
Every country has spaces like that, inhabited by people like them.—
Annika Pham,
Variety,
13 Oct. 2025
-
The area was popular with summer tourists, but in the off-season it was inhabited by poor fisherman-farmers known as Bonackers.—
Maggie Doherty,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Populated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populated. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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