as in to inhabit
to supply with inhabitants a small island populated only by woodland creatures

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of populate YouGov’s tracker, last populated in mid-June, puts Trump’s disapproval among Black Americans at roughly 86 percent, hitting the high point of his first-term ratings from the group. Jared Gans, The Hill, 9 July 2025 Whether Gunn fell victim to the kryptonite of excessive studio notes, his desire to populate the film with his stalwart company of actors, or the hubris of not needing to offer reasons to be invested in these characters beyond the mere fact of their existence is unclear. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 8 July 2025 The people who populate an art fair are always fashionable, and always discreet. Thessaly La Force, Travel + Leisure, 4 July 2025 Argentina, at the bottom of South America, is a country way off course, and populated mostly with the children of Europeans for whom traveling is like breathing, who miss the world, the centers of culture, so very far way. Suzanne Jill Levine june 30, Literary Hub, 30 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for populate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populate
Verb
  • In other words, the billionaire both designs and inhabits delusions of grandeur.
    Brittany Allen July 10, Literary Hub, 10 July 2025
  • Because what really builds character is the expanded perspective that comes from inhabiting real (or real-enough) experiences that differ greatly from our own.
    Judy Berman, Time, 10 July 2025
Verb
  • Sure, your team is still peopled with the same flawed human beings, still maddeningly inconsistent and impossible to predict.
    Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 2 June 2025
  • Louis is the kind of polarizing character who people either really loved or loved to hate.
    Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019

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“Populate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populate. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

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