depopulate
1 synonym and 1 antonym for depopulate, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Verb — To greatly reduce the number of people living in an area, for example through war, disease or forced removal.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Antonyms
Etymology
First attested in 1531; borrowed from Latin dēpopulātus, perfect active participle of dēpopulor (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)). Compare depeople, French dépeupler, Italian spopolare, Spanish despoblar, Portuguese despovoar and Romanian despopora; by surface analysis, de- + populate...
Full origin of depopulate →