Hypertext Webster Gateway: "popularity"

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) 1.7 (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}]


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