as in inhabited
to supply with inhabitants
a small island populated only by woodland creatures
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Recent Examples of populated
More than 200 people were killed in July 2000 when an avalanche of garbage consumed a Manila shanty town populated by several thousand scavengers.
—
CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
The supporting cast is populated with adenosine, olives, argan oil, and more ingredients that contribute to its redness-neutralizing, wrinkle-smoothing, and suppleness-enhancing benefits.
—Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 8 Jan. 2026
His canvases are populated by allegories.
—Philip Martin, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026
The history of American health care is populated by private industries, powerful interest groups, federal officials and concerned citizens.
—Sorelle Wyckoff Gaynor, The Conversation, 7 Jan. 2026
In movies like Sátántangó, Werckmeister Harmonies, and his extraordinary swan song, 2011’s The Turin Horse, the Hungarian filmmaker crafted dreamlike narratives populated with disillusioned, spiritually bereft characters facing harsh realities.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026
Visitors can make their way between a dazzling planetarium, an aquarium with live coral reefs, a natural history museum, and even an indoor rainforest dome populated by hundreds of tropical birds and butterflies.
—Cu Fleshman, Travel + Leisure, 4 Jan. 2026
How does your experience of coming out as a young adult under the spotlight parallel the fears Will feels in this fictional world populated by monsters?
—Senior Television, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026
Galaxies like Mrk 178 resemble the small, rapidly star-forming galaxies that populated the young cosmos.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 31 Dec. 2025
CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
The supporting cast is populated with adenosine, olives, argan oil, and more ingredients that contribute to its redness-neutralizing, wrinkle-smoothing, and suppleness-enhancing benefits.
—Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 8 Jan. 2026
His canvases are populated by allegories.
—Philip Martin, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026
The history of American health care is populated by private industries, powerful interest groups, federal officials and concerned citizens.
—Sorelle Wyckoff Gaynor, The Conversation, 7 Jan. 2026
In movies like Sátántangó, Werckmeister Harmonies, and his extraordinary swan song, 2011’s The Turin Horse, the Hungarian filmmaker crafted dreamlike narratives populated with disillusioned, spiritually bereft characters facing harsh realities.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026
Visitors can make their way between a dazzling planetarium, an aquarium with live coral reefs, a natural history museum, and even an indoor rainforest dome populated by hundreds of tropical birds and butterflies.
—Cu Fleshman, Travel + Leisure, 4 Jan. 2026
How does your experience of coming out as a young adult under the spotlight parallel the fears Will feels in this fictional world populated by monsters?
—Senior Television, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026
Galaxies like Mrk 178 resemble the small, rapidly star-forming galaxies that populated the young cosmos.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 31 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populated
inhabited
Verb
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Local campaigners have also expressed concern about potential damage to a culturally and historically significant site inhabited and used by Australia’s Indigenous communities for thousands of years.—
Oscar Holland,
CNN Money,
7 Jan. 2026
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His follow-up to The Viral Underclass looks at what happens when members of minority groups achieve some kind of institutional power and what can happen when those white-supremacist structures are inhabited by the very people they were designed to oppress.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Populated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populated. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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