São Paulo

American  

[soun pou-loh, sou pou-loh] / ˈsãʊ̃ ˈpaʊ loʊ, ˈsaʊ ˈpaʊ loʊ /

noun

1. a state in S Brazil. 95,714 sq. mi. (247,898 sq. km).

2. a city in and the capital of this state.

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São Paulo British  

/ sə̃un ˈpaulu /

noun

1. a state of SE Brazil: consists chiefly of tableland draining west into the Paraná River. Capital: São Paulo. Pop: 38 177 742 (2002). Area: 247 239 sq km (95 459 sq miles)

2. a city in S Brazil, capital of São Paulo state: the largest city and industrial centre in Brazil, with one of the busiest airports in the world; three universities. Pop: 25 000 (1874); 2 017 025 (1950); Pop: 18 333 000 (2005 est)

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São Paulo Cultural  

1. City in southeastern Brazil; the largest city in Brazil and in South America.

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Example Sentences

Ana says she left her hometown in southern Brazil after being promised modelling opportunities in São Paulo by a woman who was based there.

From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026

Veloso had grown up in São Paulo, a far cry from the Pacific Northwest, but the script struck a chord with the cinematographer, who first worked with Bentley on 2021’s “Jockey.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

Researchers examining spiders and scorpions at the Zoological Collections Laboratory of the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, noticed something unusual on a spider only a few millimeters long.

From Science Daily • Jan. 28, 2026

Styles will also perform six nights apiece in London and Amsterdam, plus two each in Mexico City, São Paulo, Melbourne and Sydney.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026

You must have felt it, and will continue to feel it, at the throbbing of our national arteries, in Recife, in Bahia, now in this capital, and tomorrow in São Paulo.

From Latin America and the United States Addresses by Elihu Root by Bacon, Robert