# populous

/ˈpɑpjəɫəs/ (US) · /pˈɒpjʊləs/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/populous
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. having many people

adjective · CEFR B2

having a large number of people living in a place.

For teachers: containing a large population; having many inhabitants.

- Java is the most populous island in the world, with over 140 million people.
- The government struggled to provide adequate infrastructure for its most populous provinces during the period of rapid urbanisation.

Usage: Usually placed before a noun or after a linking verb like 'is'.

### 2. crowded or dense

adjective · CEFR C1 · Literary

full of people or very crowded.

For teachers: densely populated or crowded with people.

- The populous streets of the market were full of noise and colour.
- He found the populous corridors of the terminal overwhelming after spending a month in the quiet countryside.

Teaching tip: In modern English, 'crowded' is much more common for physical spaces; 'populous' is usually reserved for formal or academic talk about statistics.

## Examples

- Tokyo is one of the most populous cities in the world.
- As the country becomes more populous, the government must invest more in public transport and housing.
- The coastal regions remain the most populous parts of the continent, while the arid interior remains largely unsettled due to the lack of reliable water sources.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.