metropolitan
Americanadjective
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of, noting, or characteristic of a metropolis or its inhabitants, especially in culture, sophistication, or in accepting and combining a wide variety of people, ideas, etc.
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of or relating to a large city, its surrounding suburbs, and other neighboring communities.
the New York metropolitan area.
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pertaining to or constituting a mother country.
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pertaining to an ecclesiastical metropolis.
noun
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an inhabitant of a metropolis.
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a person who has the sophistication, fashionable taste, or other habits and manners associated with those who live in a metropolis.
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Eastern Church. the head of an ecclesiastical province.
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an archbishop in the Church of England.
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Roman Catholic Church. an archbishop who has authority over one or more suffragan sees.
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(in ancient Greece) a citizen of the mother city or parent state of a colony.
adjective
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of or characteristic of a metropolis
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constituting a city and its suburbs
the metropolitan area
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of, relating to, or designating an ecclesiastical metropolis
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of or belonging to the home territories of a country, as opposed to overseas territories
metropolitan France
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of metropolitan
1300–50; Middle English < Late Latin mētropolītānus of, belonging to a metropolis < Greek mētropolī́t ( ēs ) ( see metropolis, -ite 1) + Latin -ānus -an
Explanation
The adjective metropolitan describes something that's characteristic of a city. You really enjoy metropolitan life — there's always something happening, and you can walk or take the subway anywhere you want to go. The word metropolitan comes from metropolis, which in Greek means mother city, made up of mētēr meaning mother, and polis meaning city. A person who lives in a metropolis, or city, is also called a metropolitan. You may have loved cities even when you were growing up in the suburbs, looking forward to the day you could become a true metropolitan in the biggest city you could find.
Vocabulary lists containing metropolitan
Southeast Asia - Introductory
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Southeast Asia - Middle School
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Southeast Asia - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said he was taken to a hospital for “self-sustained injuries” on Wednesday and was later pronounced dead on Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2026
London's Metropolitan Police force said Wednesday it will expand the use of drones, artificial intelligence and live facial recognition technology, which has been criticised by rights campaigners.
From Barron's • Jun. 24, 2026
Past gas price run-ups have boosted the bus industry, said Joseph Schwieterman, director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
The study was conducted through a collaboration involving Kyoto University, the University of Tokyo, the University of Osaka, the National University of Singapore, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science.
From Science Daily • Jun. 21, 2026
There are high-rise offices and impressive, colorful buildings, like the Metropolitan Theater, Crystal Arcade, and Jai Alai Building, a sports complex that is considered the finest art deco building in Asia.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
