metropolis

noun

me·​trop·​o·​lis mə-ˈträ-p(ə-)ləs 

1

: the chief or capital city of a country, state, or region

2

: the city or state of origin of a colony (as of ancient Greece)

3

a

: a city regarded as a center of a specified activity

an industrial metropolis

a cattle metropolis

b

: a large important city

one of Europe's great metropolises

Synonyms

• asphalt jungle
• burg
• city
• cosmopolis
• megacity
• megalopolis
• municipality
• town

Examples of metropolis in a Sentence

a big, teeming metropolis where ambitious people from all over come to make their mark

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s the mix of distinctive scenery, from the French Quarter to the swamps to deserts, lakes and cities that can stand in for other more expensive metropolises from New York to Taipei. —Stuart Miller, Variety, 13 May 2025

Land subsidence risk to infrastructure in US metropolises. —Li Cohen may 8, CBS News, 8 May 2025

Those studies tended to focus on rapidly subsiding coastal metropolises such as Jakarta, Venice, and New Orleans. —Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 8 May 2025

Red tape and bureaucratic nonsense are staples of American government, whether in small towns, major metropolises, or the federal level. —Mark Minevich, Forbes.com, 3 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin, from Greek mētropolis, from mētr-, mētēr mother + polis city — more at mother, police entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for metropolis

• acropolis
• monopolise
• necropolis
• megalopolis
• propolis

Kids Definition

metropolis

noun

me·​trop·​o·​lis mə-ˈträp-(ə-)ləs 

1

: the chief or capital city of a country, state, or region

2

: a large important city