familiar stresses the fact of being generally known and easily recognized.
a familiar melody
popular applies to what is accepted by or prevalent among people in general sometimes in contrast to upper classes or special groups.
a writer of popular romances
vulgar, otherwise similar to popular, is likely to carry derogatory connotations (as of inferiority or coarseness).
souvenirs designed to appeal to the vulgar taste
Example Sentences
They have names that were popular a century ago. He is a popular guy in school. Spicy foods have become increasingly popular. That is a very popular misconception. The word “groovy” was popular in the 1960s but it's outdated now. Her theories are popular among social scientists. a popular history of physics See More
Recent Examples on the WebThe Animated Series, Harley recently celebrated her 30th anniversary as one of the most popular female characters in superhero comics, if not all of pop culture. Christian Holub, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2022 Apple recently overtook Tesla as the most popular company to bet against, according to S3 Partners.WSJ, 15 Sep. 2022 This May, a study by JMIR Mhealth Uhealth examined the 23 most popular women’s mHealth apps and found 61 percent relied on geolocators, while only 52 percent even asked for users’ consent.WIRED, 15 Sep. 2022 Shop Amazon's current most popular upright vacuum cleaner below. Nicol Natale, Peoplemag, 15 Sep. 2022 The street, where trains travel along a track just inches away from homes and businesses in the Vietnam capital, has long been one of the most popular tourist sites in Hanoi and a regular favorite on social media. Lilit Marcus, CNN, 15 Sep. 2022 Beantown and the surrounding New England area are among the most popular places for home buyers to live in America. Terry Collins, USA TODAY, 14 Sep. 2022 TikTok is the second most popular domain in the world, according to online performance and security company Cloudflare, exceeded only by Google. David Klepper, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Sep. 2022 About 81% of Russian car imports during the second quarter came from China, Bloomberg reported, while China's Xiaomi phone brand became the most popular in Russia during the same time period. Michael Lee, Fox News, 14 Sep. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Latin popularis, from populus the people, a people