Collocations for popular - adj.

be, prove, seem
become, get, grow
They seem to be getting quite popular.

remain, stay
make sth
What makes this subject so popular?

extremely, fairly, very, etc.
enormously, especially, exceedingly, extraordinarily, highly, hugely, immensely, incredibly, massively, overwhelmingly, particularly, phenomenally, tremendously, wildly
increasingly
less than, not exactly
Jack was not exactly popular after the incident with the fire extinguisher.

equally
Alec and I are equally popular with the show's viewers.

relatively
deservedly
The restaurant is deservedly popular with all who enjoy Mexican food.

instantly
He was one of those people who are instantly popular.

newly (esp. AmE)
always, enduringly, ever, perennially
Socks are always popular as presents.
a concert featuring the ever-popular entertainer

widely
universally
politically

among
popular among young people

as
These animals are quite popular as pets.

for
a restaurant that is popular for light meals

with
This area is immensely popular with tourists.

Popular is used with these nouns:
acceptance, acclaim, agitation, amusement, anger, appeal, approval, attraction, backing, bar, belief, blog, brand, capitalism, character, choice, cinema, classic, cliché, comedian, conception, consciousness, culture, delusion, demand, demonstration, destination, discontent, dish, disillusionment, dissatisfaction, election, entertainment, enthusiasm, esteem, event, expectation, fashion, favourite, feeling, fiction, figure, folklore, haunt, hero, hostility, icon, image, imagery, imagination, insurrection, journalism, literature, magazine, majority, mandate, media, melody, misconception, model, mood, move, movement, music, musical, myth, mythology, narrative, nationalism, newspaper, nightclub, notion, novel, novelist, opinion, participation, pastime, perception, personality, phrase, politician, power, preacher, prejudice, press, pressure, protest, pursuit, rebellion, recreation, referendum, religion, remedy, resistance, resort, restaurant, revolt, revolution, saying, science, sentiment, series, show, singer, slogan, soap opera, song, sovereignty, sport, spot, stereotype, story, success, superstition, support, sympathy, tabloid, taste, teacher, technique, textbook, theatre, theme, topic, tradition, tune, type, understanding, unrest, uprising, usage, venue, version, view, vote, website, will, wisdom, writer, writing