popular
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Common among the general public.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pahpyuhlerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɑpjəlɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Common among the general public; generally accepted.
Regarded with great favor, approval, or affection especially by the general public
Pertaining to or deriving from the people or general public.
Liked by many people; generally pleasing, widely admired.
Aimed at ordinary people, as opposed to specialists etc.; intended for general consumption.
Adapted to the means of the common people; cheap.
noun
A member of any political party with "Popular" in the title, such as the Partido Popular in Spain or Popolari di Italia Domani in Italy
chiefly in the plural
An inexpensive newspaper with wide circulation.
A person who is popular, especially at a school.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Common among the general public; generally accepted.
Used this way, popular is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use popular
- “A popular tourist attraction.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought after.
Among the people.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A terrorist group of radical Palestinians who split with al-Fatah in 1967 but now have close relations with al-Fatah.
A leftist coalition organized against a common opponent.
A terrorist group of limited popularity formed in 1967 after the Six-Day War.
A Marxist-Leninist group that believes Palestinian goals can only be achieved by revolutionary change.
A Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization that conducted several attacks in western Europe.
Any genre of music having wide appeal (but usually only for a short time).
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Competition (real or figurative) for popular support.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.