nation-state

American  

[ney-shuhn-steyt] / ˈneɪ ʃənˌsteɪt /

noun

1. a sovereign state inhabited by a relatively homogeneous group of people who share a feeling of common nationality.

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nation-state British  

noun

1. an independent state inhabited by all the people of one nation and one nation only

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Etymology

Origin of nation-state

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nation-state

The notion that the nation-state is outdated, and could therefore be replaced with blockchain technology, is one of the reasons h e decided to run to become Liberland's prime minister.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

But the nation-state is itself a creature of the 19th century.

From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2026

The Renaissance revived themis and unleashed the scientific revolution as the epitome of techne; the Protestant Reformation made the nation-state and democracy the vehicles of both.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

But the idea of linguistic commonality among members of a nation-state was not ever a demand for monolingualism.

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026

What I knew of Orgoreyn indicated that it had become, over the last five or six centuries, an increasingly mobilizable society, a real nation-state.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin