The concept of populism is often intertwined with other notions, which reflects the complexity of social and political realities associated with this phenomenon. Left-wing and right-wing populism, national populism, authoritarian populism are just some of the combinations related to specific uses of populism. In this chapter, we argue that such specifications underscore the heuristic value of the concept of populism while also highlighting the need for discussions about their epistemological and ontological underpinnings. Addressing radial conceptualization, fuzzy-set theory, family resemblance, and ideal types, this contribution emphasizes the potential of engaging populism as a multi-level, and multi-dimensional concept beyond fixed minimal definitions. Although the conceptual stretching remains a challenge, populism studies scholarship should steer away from the traditional ambition of developing a universal and univocal conceptualization and, instead, drawing a specific-driven approach to the study of populism.