megalopolis

American  

[meg-uh-lop-uh-lis] / ˌmɛg əˈlɒp ə lɪs /

noun

1. a very large city.

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

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megalopolis British  

/ ˌmɛɡələˈpɒlɪtən, ˌmɛɡəˈlɒpəlɪs /

noun

1. an urban complex, usually comprising several large towns

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megalopolis Cultural  

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.”

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Other Word Forms

• megalopolitan adjective

Etymology

Origin of megalopolis

First recorded in 1825–35; megalo- + polis

Example Sentences

The digital counter stands outside the Smart Sampa monitoring center, where dozens of police officers watch images streaming in from 40,000 cameras in the Brazilian megalopolis.

From Barron's

Nonetheless, Woohoo has resonated with customers accustomed to the lavish offerings of Dubai, a tech-forward megalopolis with a proclivity for extravagance where AI has its own minister.

From Barron's

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

From 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.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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