metropolis

me·trop·o·lis | \ mə-ˈträ-p(ə-)ləs

How to pronounce metropolis (audio)

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Definition of metropolis

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)

3a : 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

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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 Centuries of turbulent history, topped with recent decades of chaotic urban development, have left the ancient metropolis in poor physical shape. — Declan Walsh, New York Times, "Cairo Badly Needed a Detox. Lockdown Supplied One, at a Steep Price.," 9 July 2020 Amid these many wonders are the city’s hotels, which present a vast array of choices in this metropolis of 19 million people. — John Wogan, Travel + Leisure, "The Top Hotels in Beijing," 8 July 2020 But in a violent metropolis like Rio, where over 1,800 people were killed by police last year, fighting can be terrifying. — Bill Donahue, Washington Post, "For the Olympics, poor communities in host cities are regularly displaced. For the Rio 2016 games, one village’s resistance sparked a global question: Should they be abolished?," 6 July 2020 The Midwestern metropolis is predominantly white -- 63% of the population -- and less than 19% black. — Scottie Andrew, CNN, "This city disbanded its police department 7 years ago. Here's what happened next," 9 June 2020 For five years running, T+L readers have awarded this 412-year-old metropolis the gold medal as Canada’s best city. — Siobhan Reid, Travel + Leisure, "The Top 5 Cities in Canada," 8 July 2020 Rather than seeing a metropolis of the future, analysts point to Hungary in 1956 or Prague in 1968. — Washington Post, "China strangles its world city," 3 July 2020 After Hong Kong police failed to quell sometimes-violent demonstrations week after week, mainland police and soldiers began performing antiriot drills across the border in Shenzhen, a Guangdong metropolis. — Eva Dou, BostonGlobe.com, "Beijing names hard-liner who crushed protests to head Hong Kong security agency," 3 July 2020 After Hong Kong police failed to quell sometimes-violent demonstrations week after week, mainland police and soldiers began performing anti-riot drills across the border in Shenzhen, a Guangdong metropolis. — Washington Post, "Beijing names hard-liner who crushed protests to head Hong Kong security agency," 3 July 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'metropolis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near metropolis

metropolitanate

metropolitan borough

Statistics for metropolis

Last Updated

31 Jul 2020

Cite this Entry

“Metropolis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metropolis. Accessed 8 Aug. 2020.

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