megalopolis

[meg-uh-lop-uh-lis]

noun

1. a very large city.

2. an urban region, especially one consisting of several large cities and suburbs that adjoin each other.

megalopolis

/ ˌmɛɡələˈpɒlɪtən, ˌmɛɡəˈlɒpəlɪs /

noun

1. an urban complex, usually comprising several large towns

megalopolis

1. A vast stretch of developed industrial urban area, such as the East Coast of the United States from Boston to Washington, D.C., or the Ruhr Valley in Germany. Megalopolis is from Greek words meaning “great city.”

Other Word Forms

• megalopolitan adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of megalopolis¹

First recorded in 1825–35; megalo- + polis

Word History and Origins

Origin of megalopolis¹

C20: _megalo- + Greek polis city

Example Sentences

So the 33-year-old found himself eating pan-fried noodles 200 miles north of the megalopolis in a restaurant shaped like a carousel.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Yet seen from another perspective, nothing could be as surprising as the birth in that particular location of a gigantic, vigorous megalopolis.

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The lawsuit targets a “sanctuary city” ordinance on the books in the Southern California megalopolis, saying that the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S.

Read more on Salon

Just as the East Coast developed into a string of megacities linked by Amtrak, California is evolving into its own megalopolis.

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The fact Trump dispatched troops to tamp down protests in Los Angeles, the biggest blue megalopolis in the nation’s biggest blue state, cannot be ignored.

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Related Words

• capital 
• center 
• downtown 
• metropolis 
• municipality 
• place 
• port