as in republic
a state that has its own government and consists of a city and the area around it
the city-states of ancient Greece
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Recent Examples of city-state
The mayor talked about the new level of city-state cooperation.
—
Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
With crops failing and fears of starvation rising, some wealthy Italian city-states like Florence and Venice imported grain from elsewhere in the world.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 4 Dec. 2025
An ensuing grain shortage threatened to spark a famine or civil unrest, so Italian city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, resorted to emergency imports from the Black Sea region, which helped keep the population fed.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 4 Dec. 2025
Grace Fu has served as Singapore's environmental chief since 2020, allocating nearly $4 billion to coastal resilience projects in the low-lying city-state while leading international negotiations on climate policy.
—Elisabeth Brier, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for city-state
Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
With crops failing and fears of starvation rising, some wealthy Italian city-states like Florence and Venice imported grain from elsewhere in the world.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 4 Dec. 2025
An ensuing grain shortage threatened to spark a famine or civil unrest, so Italian city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, resorted to emergency imports from the Black Sea region, which helped keep the population fed.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 4 Dec. 2025
Grace Fu has served as Singapore's environmental chief since 2020, allocating nearly $4 billion to coastal resilience projects in the low-lying city-state while leading international negotiations on climate policy.
—Elisabeth Brier, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for city-state
Recent Examples of Synonyms for city-state
Noun
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To build a bridge between the two groups to put the people back in their rightful place at the head of the republic.—
Aaron Everitt,
STAT,
10 Apr. 2026
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One would, in fact, be hard-pressed to discover within the historical records of the republic a Cabinet member more hermetically aligned with his commander in chief’s agenda than Hegseth.—
Kelly Sloan,
The Orlando Sentinel,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Even so, the kingdom was facing a drop of more than 25% in exports last month.—
Gerry Doyle,
Fortune,
5 Apr. 2026
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Whatever efficiency may be gained from using the tool could easily be undone in the event a threat actor obtains the keys to a network kingdom.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Groypers believe that for decades America has prostrated itself to immigrants and foreign nations at the expense of its own languishing citizens.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
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Meanwhile, drone incursions into neighboring countries -- among them NATO allies -- have raised concerns of the war spilling over into non-combatant nations.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
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This also marks the second-biggest domestic launch of all time for Illumination, the animation empire founded by Chris Meledandri.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
5 Apr. 2026
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Over the centuries, it would be conquered by empires of varying beliefs.—
Seth Doane,
CBS News,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Perhaps as a result, various European countries had introduced academic programs in the new field of music geragogy—the study of music-learning in old age.—
Tim Parks,
New Yorker,
11 Apr. 2026
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Plus, targets in countries where people generally make lower incomes may be less likely to turn down job offers.—
Jessica Klein,
PC Magazine,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The Austrian archduchess Marie Louise, former empress of the French, who was granted Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla for her lifetime, preserved some of the Napoleonic administrative and legal structure in the duchy.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
12 Mar. 2026
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La Tour was born in Lorraine, a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1593, twenty-one years after Caravaggio, whose sensational combination of naturalism and theater, light and dark, formed him as a painter.—
Nicole Krauss,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Boone and Henderson counties are among the cheapest places to buy gas in the commonwealth.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
1 Apr. 2026
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Hayes stressed in his statement to the Washington Examiner that taxes from skill games could raise significant revenue for the commonwealth and small business owners.—
Robert Schmad,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The protocol boiled down to the fact that the House of Grimaldi rules Monaco as a principality, not a monarchy, according to fan blog Royal Style Watch.—
Janine Henni,
PEOPLE,
1 Apr. 2026
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Monaco's population of 38,000 is heavily Catholic and multinational, with only a fifth of the population actually citizens of the principality.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“City-state.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/city-state. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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