What does "depopulation" mean?

The act of depopulating or condition of being depopulated; the destruction or expulsion of inhabitants.

What is a synonym for "depopulation"?

Common synonyms include: desolation, devastation.

How do you pronounce "depopulation"?

Pronounced //diˌpɑ.pjəˈleɪ.ʃən//.

Depopulation

//diˌpɑ.pjəˈleɪ.ʃən// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The act of depopulating or condition of being depopulated; the destruction or expulsion of inhabitants. countable, uncountable
"A 2022 report published by the Scottish Borders Council states: "Hawick has been affected more by depopulation than any other Borders town, with all parts of the town experiencing population loss, and Hawick Central is currently experiencing the highest depopulation out of the 30 Intermediate Zones in Scottish Borders.""
2
the condition of having reduced numbers of inhabitants (or no inhabitants at all) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

desolation devastation

Example

More examples

"Surprisingly, the most serious consequences of rural depopulation are often felt in urban areas."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English depopulacion (also spelled depopulacyoun, depopolacion), borrowed from Latin dēpopulātiō. By surface analysis, depopulate + -ion.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.