metropolis

[ mi-trop-uh-lis ]

See synonyms for metropolis on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural me·trop·o·lis·es.

any large, busy city.
the chief, and sometimes capital, city of a country, state, or region.

a central or principal place, as of some activity: the music metropolis of France.
the mother city or parent state of a colony, especially of an ancient Greek colony.
the chief see of an ecclesiastical province.

Origin of metropolis

1350–1400; Middle English <Late Latin mētropolis<Greek mētrópolis a mother state or city, equivalent to mētro-, combining form of mḗtērmother¹ + pólis-polis, polis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use metropolis in a sentence

The city is incredibly violent for its size, on par with metropolises that dwarf the town.
The Disappearing Cops of East St. Louis | Justin Glawe | November 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
What looks like filthy chaos at the moment is actually the kinetic energy that gives birth to modern metropolises.
Great Cities are Born Filthy | Will Doig | July 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
A new book about Victorian-era London reminds us that unregulated, disorderly places grow into great metropolises.
Great Cities are Born Filthy | Will Doig | July 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Urbanization in China has brought hundreds of millions of people from rural locations to the bustling coastal metropolises.
Inside China’s Mistress-Industrial Complex | Junheng Li, Bethany Allen, Ana Swanson | February 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
But the army stopped far short of the new Edens and metropolises.
Martin Van Buren | Edward M. Shepard

These things, Gentlemen, are printed now-a-days; they are printed at Paris, one of the metropolises of thought!
The Heavenly Father | Ernest Naville
This town seems to me to have other alleged metropolises skinned to flag stations.
Strictly Business | O. Henry
But the pressing disc of the battle-front which had been lowering on Chicago, greatest of Earth's metropolises, was lifted.
Invaders from the Infinite | John Wood Campbell
Cities of the east grew fantastically, and even in the interior cities rose from wilderness outposts to gigantic metropolises.
Agricultural Implements and Machines in the Collection of the National Museum of History and Technology | John T. Schlebecker

British Dictionary definitions for metropolis

metropolis

/ (mɪˈtrɒpəlɪs) /

nounplural -lises

the main city, esp of a country or region; capital
a centre of activity

the chief see in an ecclesiastical province

Origin of metropolis

C16: from Late Latin from Greek: mother city or state, from mētēr mother + polis city

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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