2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Popularity \Pop`u*lar"i*ty\, n.; pl {Popularities}. [L.
popularitas an effort to please the people: cf F.
popularit['e].]
1. The quality or state of being popular; especially, the
state of being esteemed by or of being in favor with the
people at large good will or favor proceeding from the
people; as the popularity of a law, statesman, or a book.
A popularity which has lasted down to our time.
--Macaulay.
2. The quality or state of being adapted or pleasing to
common, poor, or vulgar people; hence cheapness;
inferiority; vulgarity.
This gallant laboring to avoid popularity falls into
a habit of affectation. --B. Jonson
3. Something which obtains, or is intended to obtain, the
favor of the vulgar; claptrap.
Popularities, and circumstances which . . . sway the
ordinary judgment. --Bacon.
4. The act of courting the favor of the people. [Obs.]
``Indicted . . . for popularity and ambition.'' --Holland.
5. Public sentiment; general passion. [R.]
A little time be allowed for the madness of
popularity to cease. --Bancroft.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
popularity
n : the quality of being widely admired or accepted or sought
after: "his charm soon won him affection and popularity";
"the universal popularity of American movies" [ant: {unpopularity}]
more about popularity
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