Learn English – Which is correct, “highly-populated” or “most populous”

phrases

For example, Shanghai is a "highly-populated city " or "one of most populous cities"in China. Are they both correct? If so, which one is more common?

Best Answer

This is just like many and most.

Definition of many by Google:

a large number of.

Definition of most by Google:

greatest in amount or degree.


Hence,

"highly-populated city" means a city that is populous while "most populous city" means the city is more populated than any other cities.

The difference is that most is a superlative while highly populated is like a normal adjective.

Here are few more examples:

I have many games.

I have the most games in the world.