as in to inhabit
to supply with inhabitants
a small island populated only by woodland creatures
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Recent Examples of populate
Hanna Liden’s photographs reimagined the northern Romantic landscape tradition of Caspar David Friedrich and Vilhelm Hammershøi as populated by practitioners of the suburban occult, with figures in skull masks or Grim Reaper hoods dwarfed by moody vistas.
—
Rachel Wetzler, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
The thrill of seeing a fearless, indefatigable performer single-handedly populate the stage with the myriad figures of this masterwork never lets up.
—Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
Many Haitian families gravitated to Lemon City, one of the oldest settlements in Miami, developed in the late eighteen-hundreds and, at the time, largely populated by lemon-grove workers from the Bahamas.
—Edwidge Danticat, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
The place seems to be populated with friends from Second City, friends from high school and friends of friends.
—Lynn Hirschberg, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for populate
Rachel Wetzler, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
The thrill of seeing a fearless, indefatigable performer single-handedly populate the stage with the myriad figures of this masterwork never lets up.
—Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
Many Haitian families gravitated to Lemon City, one of the oldest settlements in Miami, developed in the late eighteen-hundreds and, at the time, largely populated by lemon-grove workers from the Bahamas.
—Edwidge Danticat, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
The place seems to be populated with friends from Second City, friends from high school and friends of friends.
—Lynn Hirschberg, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for populate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populate
Verb
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Sadly, the full ring of fire will only be witnessed by the few human beings inhabiting research stations in the path of annularity, along with the millions of penguins who call the frozen continent home.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
10 Feb. 2026
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While experts don’t fully agree on why or how so many rabbits came to inhabit the island today, there are some leading theories.—
Madeline Weinfield,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Throughout Humphreys County and Hickman County, peopled gathered with their churches for support and comfort in the days after the tragedy.—
Beth Warren,
Nashville Tennessean,
12 Oct. 2025
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The Master is the greatest of them all, a movie peopled by characters who are at once intensely human and also the stuff of otherworldly fables.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Populate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populate. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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