Mecca

American  

[mek-uh] / ˈmɛk ə /

noun

• Meccas
  plural

1. Also Mekka; Makkah a city in and the capital of Hejaz, in western Saudi Arabia: birthplace of Muhammad; spiritual center of Islam.

2. (often lowercase) any place that many people visit or hope to visit.

   The president's birthplace is a mecca for his admirers.

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Mecca British  

/ ˈmɛkə /

noun

1. Arabic name: Makkah. a city in W Saudi Arabia, joint capital (with Riyadh) of Saudi Arabia: birthplace of Mohammed; the holiest city of Islam, containing the Kaaba. Pop: 1 529 000 (2005 est)

2. (sometimes not capital) a place that attracts many visitors

   Athens is a Mecca for tourists

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Mecca ¹ Cultural  

1. The birthplace of Muhammad, and thus the holiest city for Muslims. Muslims face in the direction of Mecca when they pray, and they are expected to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives. Mecca is in present-day Saudi Arabia.

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Mecca ² Cultural  

1. City in western Saudi Arabia.

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Discover More

Figuratively, a “mecca” is any place that attracts a great many people, especially for a particular reason: “Vail is a mecca for skiers.”

As the place where Mohammed the prophet was born in the sixth century, it is the holiest city of Islam and the destination of numerous Muslim pilgrims.

A “mecca” is a place that attracts people: “Hollywood is a mecca for would-be actors and actresses.”

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Meccan
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Meccas
  plural

Explanation

A mecca is a place that attracts people to it. The huge outlet mall near your hometown is a mecca for shoppers and bargain hunters. When it's capitalized, Mecca is the holiest city for Muslims, the place where Muhammad was born. Observant Muslims believe it's important to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at some point in their lives. Because this city near the Red Sea draws so many visitors every year, the word mecca gradually came to mean "place where people really want to go." So you might describe Las Vegas as a mecca for gamblers and Cirque du Soleil fans. The original Arabic word is Makkah.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Mecca Meccas

The Houthis had previously warned “all international airlines using Saudi airspace” to halt their flights, except those over the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

On Tuesday, Saudi authorities issued a series of brief security alerts for incoming projectiles in a number of western areas, including Mecca and Jeddah, the kingdom's second largest city.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Saudi Arabia issued attack alerts Tuesday for Mecca -- the holy city's first of the Middle East war -- and Jeddah and Taif governorates, before quickly cancelling them.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

The most recent feather in Gen. Munir’s cap is the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, which Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed last week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The starship punched out into the dark, punched through the sky, punched out past West Baltimore, punched out past The Mecca, past New York, past any language and every spectrum known to me.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Unlike the fashion Meccas of Paris and Milan, Nairobi does not follow seasons as the fashion scene is too small.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2022

“This is a link to all the English players playing or coaching professionally abroad, including in such footballing Meccas as the Cook Islands, the Philippines and Vanuatu.”

From The Guardian ● Feb. 7, 2018

“That’s one of the logging Meccas of Oregon,’’ Serrill said.

From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2017

From snow-and-arts resorts like Breckenridge, Colorado, to country- music Meccas like Branson, Missouri, America's playlands are producing a booming class of unfortunates: the hardworking homeless.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was in this same Year Two, the fame of the latest of western Meccas for young men having penetrated to the provincial backgrounds of New Hampshire, that David Kent came.

From The Grafters by Francis Lynde