metropolis
Americannoun
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any large, busy city.
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the chief, and sometimes capital, city of a country, state, or region.
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a central or principal place, as of some activity.
the music metropolis of France.
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the mother city or parent state of a colony, especially of an ancient Greek colony.
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the chief see of an ecclesiastical province.
noun
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the main city, esp of a country or region; capital
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a centre of activity
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the chief see in an ecclesiastical province
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing metropolis
The Mother of All Lists: Mater, Matr
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Okay for Now
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #8
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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.
See Examples For:
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
In addition to New Delhi, he will visit Agra, site of the world-famous Taj Mahal, as well as the palace-filled city of Jaipur and the eastern metropolis of Kolkata.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
San Diego is a rare example of a nearby metropolis that has been able to convince more builders to build more.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
He planted the offices in the midst of this black metropolis, rolled up his sleeves, and went to work.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
About 40% of metropolises had more deaths than births, and rely on newcomers to grow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
The U.S. winners range from small cities such as Cape Coral, Fla., to major metropolises like San Francisco; many are tax havens.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
The city's population density is more than 7,100 people per square kilometre of land, on par with packed metropolises like Tokyo.
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
In Los Angeles and San Francisco, two of the other metropolises that have welcomed Waymo, subscribers to the $10-a-month DashPass can earn a $10 discount off one Waymo ride every month.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2025
No kind of crazy breakthroughs, just variations on a theme: pigs with brain maps that resemble St. Louis, my couple for Noelle joined by the sweeping bridge, a family of metropolises.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
