Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - popular

~ adj 1 liked by a lot of people  (Hilary was popular at school.)  (Video games are very popular with children. | a popular holiday resort)  (- opposite unpopular) 2 popular belief/view/misconception a belief etc that a lot of people have  (contrary to popular belief)  (Contrary to popular belief, gorillas are basically shy, gentle creatures.) 3 only before noun popular entertainment, newspapers, programmes etc are intended to be suitable for ordinary people  (pilloried by the popular press) 4 only before noun done by a lot of people in a society, group etc  (popular protest | It was decided by popular vote.) 5 you'll be popular spoken used when telling someone that other people will be annoyed with them  (You'll be popular when they find out you've lost their tickets.)