populating

verb

present participle of populate
as in inhabiting
to supply with inhabitants a small island populated only by woodland creatures

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 populating Artists and musicians had flocked to dirt-cheap rents, populating the neighborhood with small clubs and cheap tickets. — Michael Calderone, Curbed, 4 Sep. 2026 The Democratic Party needs someone like you to bring the spirit of Rocky Marciano into the political ring instead of the creampuffs populating Democratic leadership today. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 26 July 2026 This reflects China’s decades of investment in math education, which has led to a fresh crop of talented young mathematicians populating the top universities. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 23 July 2026 The natural next step is to certify the data populating those definitions to the same standard as the definitions themselves, because that determines whether organizations can trust the systems built on top of them to act. — Jay Limburn, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026 In practice, that means AI is running the numbers, populating forms, surfacing options, and even suggesting installation dates. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 5 July 2026 Increasingly online, Americans started populating echo chambers and imbibing conspiracies, and distrust of the media grew. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 3 July 2026 The discovery offers the first evidence that star-forming galaxies like Shadow Blaster play a significant role in populating the universe with mysterious high-energy cosmic ghost-neutrinos. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 18 June 2026 By populating the green with so many conflicting personalities, director and cowriter Harold Ramis makes golf seem both monumentally silly and, despite its staid trappings, unexpectedly freewheeling. — Jesse Hassenger, Entertainment Weekly, 18 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populating
  1. inhabiting
  2. colonizing
Verb
  • Marvel unveiled the first trailer at D23 in August, introducing Vision’s existential crisis and the primary characters inhabiting his interior mindscape.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 1 Oct. 2026
  • That number has since grown to more than 100,000, and new species of insects, birds and small mammals have started inhabiting the land, according to a update on May’s website marking the 10-year anniversary.
    — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of inhabiting
Verb
  • Dreams of colonizing Mars face many significant obstacles given the harsh conditions (for humans) on the red planet—including housing.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026
  • These platforms are colonizing existing speculative spaces—like election results and sporting outcomes—while profiting from areas of asymmetrical knowledge that were previously not possible to monetize.
    — Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of colonizing

Browse Nearby Words

populates
populating
populist
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Populating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populating. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All