Word family noun popularity ≠ unpopularity popularization adjective popular ≠ unpopular verb popularize adverb popularly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpopularitypop‧u‧lar‧i‧ty /ˌpɒpjəˈlærəti $ ˌpɑː-/ ●●○ noun [uncountable] POPULARwhen something or someone is liked or supported by a lot of peoplepopularity of The popularity of the Internet has soared. The president’s popularity has declined considerably.gain/grow/increase in popularity (=start to be liked by many people) Country music is growing in popularity.COLLOCATIONSverbsenjoy popularity (=be popular)The band enjoyed great popularity in the 1980s.achieve popularity (=become popular)Her books achieved tremendous popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.gain/grow/increase in popularityExtreme sports are growing in popularity.court popularity (=try to be popular by pleasing people)It is tempting for politicians to court popularity.somebody's popularity soars (=increases by a large amount)Opinion polls showed that his popularity had soared to a record level.something's popularity declinesAs fashions changed, their popularity declined.adjectivesgreat popularityHis great popularity with British audiences dates from that period.enormous/tremendous/immense popularitythe enormous popularity of Coca-Colawidespread/wide popularity (=with a lot of people, or in many places)Astrology enjoyed widespread popularity.growing/increasing/rising popularityThis may be the key to explaining Celtic music's increasing popularity.continuing/enduring popularityToday, the novel enjoys enduring popularity and ranks among the USA's top-selling books.personal popularityWhile these changes were controversial, his personal popularity remained high.political popularityThe sagging economy has seriously damaged his political popularity.popularity + NOUNa popularity contest (=competition to find who the most popular person is)All election campaigns are popularity contests to some degree.a popularity poll (=survey to find how popular someone is)In most popularity polls, he is in fourth or fifth place.somebody's popularity rating (=how popular someone is according to a poll)His popularity rating dropped quite dramatically after the events of last year. Examples from the Corpus
popularity• Rawlings's friends and foes alike say he survived only because of the enormous popularity with which he began his rule.• But prolonged recession and high unemployment knocked his popularity down to rock-bottom.• Attempts to denigrate his playing simply because of his popularity are misplaced but regrettably widespread.• Another, newer type of yeast is gaining in popularity.• Cohabitation between marriages has also grown in popularity.• Lee's popularity started to fade somewhat.• Margaret profited too from her sister's popularity and the relaxation in rules.• A high number of singular military displays more than took up the slack, riding a post- Desert Storm popularity wave.• The popularity of cellular phones has grown in the last five years.• Nicholas Ferrar's wide popularity is quite recent.gain/grow/increase in popularity• Frozen food has greatly increased in popularity ever since Clarence Birdseye popularized frozen peas during the 1920s.• The center has grown in popularity.• The Youth Club has increased in popularity this session and has a thriving expanding membership.• The quest for big game has grown in popularity.• Another, newer type of yeast is gaining in popularity.• Another mass-storage option gaining in popularity is the optical drive. 