metropolis

American  

[mi-trop-uh-lis] / mɪˈtrɒp ə lɪs /

noun

metropolises plural

1. any large, busy city.

2. the chief, and sometimes capital, city of a country, state, or region.

3. a central or principal place, as of some activity.

   the music metropolis of France.

4. the mother city or parent state of a colony, especially of an ancient Greek colony.

5. the chief see of an ecclesiastical province.

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metropolis British  

/ mɪˈtrɒpəlɪs /

noun

1. the main city, esp of a country or region; capital

2. a centre of activity

3. the chief see in an ecclesiastical province

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• metropolises
  plural

Etymology

Origin of metropolis

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin mētropolis < Greek mētrópolis a mother state or city, equivalent to mētro-, combining form of mḗtēr mother ¹ + pólis -polis, polis

Explanation

A large, densely populated urban area is called a metropolis. "She liked living in a metropolis because there were many opportunities in a city that were not available elsewhere, like 24-hour diners." The noun metropolis comes from the Greek roots mētēr, meaning "mother," and pólis, meaning "city." Historically, the word referred to the founding city-state of a region in Ancient Greece. Today the word refers to any urban area. The largest metropolis in Massachusetts is Boston, which is also the capital. Sometimes people use the word metropolis ironically or sarcastically: "She came from the booming metropolis of Tumbleweed, population 325."

Example Sentences

A consistent message emerged: Los Angeles was not a beautiful, vibrant metropolis with serious problems, but a hellhole verging on being lost for good.

From Slate • Jun. 9, 2026

That included his time as mayor of Davao, a southern metropolis where he cultivated the image of a tough-talking political outsider.

From BBC • May 28, 2026

He penned a book, “Desert Visions and the Making of Phoenix,” about how the metropolis became what is currently the nation’s fifth-largest city by population, home to about 1.7 million.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

Rollins recalled feeling a sort of serenity as he returned to New York, finding a new empathy in the metropolis.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

We walked the streets of Indianapolis, which seemed to me a huge metropolis with cars whizzing past and crowds on the street—friendly, but too many of them for me to feel comfortable.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Related Words

• capital
• downtown
• municipality