Adjective

(en adjective)

Harmless; producing no ill effect.

* 1892 , , A Footnote to History , ch. 9:

The shells fell for the most part innocuous ; an eyewitness saw children at play beside the flaming houses; not a soul was injured.

* 1910 , , The Lair of the White Worm , ch. 11:

Other things, too, there were, not less deadly though seemingly innocuous —dried fungi, traps intended for birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, and insects.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=September 2 , author= , title=Wales 2-1 Montenegro , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=As the half closed Bale and Ledley both went close with good efforts, but Bellamy picked up a yellow card for an innocuous challenge that also rules the new Liverpool man out of the trip to Wembley.}}

Inoffensive; unprovocative; not exceptional.

* 1893 , , Mrs. Falchion , ch. 12:

Ruth Devlin announced that the song must wait, though it appeared to be innocuous and child-like in its sentiments.

* 1910 , , The Intrusion of Jimmy , ch. 28:

He sat down, and lighted a cigarette, casting about the while for an innocuous topic of conversation.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Common among the general public; generally accepted.

* 2007 , Joe Queenan, The Guardian , 23 Aug 2007:

Contrary to popular misconception, MacArthur Park is not the worst song ever written.

(legal) Concerning the people; public.

Pertaining to or deriving from the people or general public.

* 1594 , (Richard Hooker), Preface :

At the coming of Calvin thither, the form of their civil regiment was popular , as it continueth at this day: neither king, nor duke, nor nobleman of any authority or power over them, but officers chosen by the people out of themselves, to order all things with public consent.

* 2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, p. 645:

Luther in popular memory had become a saint, his picture capable of saving houses from burning down, if it was fixed to the parlour wall.

* 2009 , Graham Smith, The Guardian , letter, 27 May 2009:

Jonathan Freedland brilliantly articulates the size and nature of the challenge and we must take his lead in setting out a radical agenda for a new republic based on the principle of popular sovereignty.

(obsolete) Of low birth, not noble; vulgar, plebian.

*, II.17:

*:Popular and shallow-headed mindes, cannot perceive the grace or comelinesse, nor judge of a smooth and quaint discourse.

Aimed at ordinary people, as opposed to specialists etc.; intended for general consumption.

* 2009 , ‘Meltdown’, The Economist , 8 Apr 2009:

As a work of popular science it is exemplary: the focus may be the numbers, but most of the mathematical legwork is confined to the appendices and the accompanying commentary is amusing and witty, as well as informed.

(obsolete) Cultivating the favour of the common people.

* Such popular humanity is treason. -

Liked by many people; generally pleasing, widely admired.

*{{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black)

, chapter=2, title= Internal Combustion , passage=The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.}}

* 2011 , The Observer , 2 Oct.:

They might have split 24 years ago, but the Smiths remain as popular as ever, and not just among those who remember them first time around.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03

, author=David S. Senchina, volume=101, issue=2, page=134, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Athletics and Herbal Supplements , passage=Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades. At the top of the list of popular herbs are echinacea and ginseng, whereas garlic, St. John's wort, soybean, ephedra and others are also surging in popularity or have been historically prevalent.}}

Adapted to the means of the common people; cheap.