populous

adjective

pop·​u·​lous ˈpä-pyə-ləs 

1

a

: densely populated

b

: having a large population

2

a

: numerous

b

: filled to capacity

populously adverb

populousness noun

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

The states include the country’s most populous — California, which has 17 million renters. —Heather Vogell, ProPublica, 9 Jan. 2025

El Fondo has bookstores in Mexico — the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking nation — and others throughout Latin America and Spain. —Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2025

That should not come as too much of a surprise–Wyoming is our least populous state. —Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025

An especially shocking loss for the BJP was Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, long considered a bulwark for Modi and his party. —Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English populous, populus, borrowed from Latin populōsus, from populus people entry 1 + -ōsus -ous

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

populous

adjective

pop·​u·​lous ˈpäp-yə-ləs 

: having a large population