popularity Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun 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

WordNet

Pop`u*lar"i*ty noun
Etymology
L. popularitas an effort to please the people: cf. F. popularité.
Wordforms
plural Popularities
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913