metropolis

noun

me·​trop·​o·​lis mə-ˈträ-p(ə-)ləs How to pronounce metropolis (audio)
1
: the chief or capital city of a country, state, or region
2
: the city or state of origin of a colony (as of ancient Greece)
3
a
: a city regarded as a center of a specified activity
an industrial metropolis
a cattle metropolis
b
: a large important city
one of Europe's great metropolises

Examples of metropolis in a Sentence

a big, teeming metropolis where ambitious people from all over come to make their mark
Recent Examples on the Web In 1978, the year Deng Xiaoping ushered in China’s economic reforms, Zong returned to Hangzhou and spent the next decade working as a salesman, sometimes traveling to the southern metropolis of Guangzhou for trade fairs. Nectar Gan, CNN, 26 Feb. 2024 Acrimony has seethed in Owens Valley since the early 1900s, when the city had agents pose as farmers and ranchers to buy land and water rights in the valley, then began building an aqueduct to collect and divert water from Inyo County to the water-craving metropolis about 180 miles to the south. Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2024 Highlights of our visit included an afternoon spent at the National Museum of Qatar, which explains where this gleaming metropolis came from, and a journey to the desert to see the monoliths by American sculptor Richard Serra. Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2024 The new visa allows foreigners to live and work in South Korea for up to 2 years. February 23, 2024 Travelers from around the world have long been fascinated by South Korea's outsized pop culture influence, paradisiacal islands, and stylish, high-tech metropolises. Hannah Towey, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Feb. 2024 On the other, a bustling metropolis where the diminutive Niebla played baseball against adults on weekends and, a time or three, snuck over with a fake ID at 17 to party at a notorious club called The Forum. Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2024 In the depths of your eyes, a thriving metropolis of microorganisms exists, which could potentially revolutionize our understanding of eye health. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 The measure was the latest effort by Parisian officials to combat pollution in one of the world’s most beloved metropolises. Karla Adam, Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2024 Though their settings and stories may be vastly different, spanning from an elemental metropolis or Japan to the multiverse, their throughline is innovative and inspiring animation. Karen Idelson, Variety, 29 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'metropolis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin, from Greek mētropolis, from mētr-, mētēr mother + polis city — more at mother, police entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of metropolis was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near metropolis

Cite this Entry

“Metropolis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metropolis. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

metropolis

noun
me·​trop·​o·​lis mə-ˈträp-(ə-)ləs How to pronounce metropolis (audio)
1
: the chief or capital city of a country, state, or region
2
: a large important city

More from Merriam-Webster on metropolis

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