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
With very few exceptions, an end was declared, not only to empires, but also to city-states, duchies, principalities, emirates, sultanates, caliphates, khanates, agencies, princely states, colonies, suzerains, dependencies, mandates, tributaries, condominia and protectorates.
—
Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
The issue is a critical one for the Southeast Asian city-state of 6 million people.
—Chris Wellisz, semafor.com, 16 Apr. 2026
His route to Sparta would have taken him through Corinth, Nemea, and Arcadia and avoided kingdoms or city-states not allied with Athens.
—Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Mar. 2026
The people who say that should visit C2E2, which, year after year, invariably comes together into a South Loop city-state for three days.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for city-state
Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
The issue is a critical one for the Southeast Asian city-state of 6 million people.
—Chris Wellisz, semafor.com, 16 Apr. 2026
His route to Sparta would have taken him through Corinth, Nemea, and Arcadia and avoided kingdoms or city-states not allied with Athens.
—Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Mar. 2026
The people who say that should visit C2E2, which, year after year, invariably comes together into a South Loop city-state for three days.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for city-state
Recent Examples of Synonyms for city-state
Noun
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The suspect was a 36-year-old man who carried a passport belonging to the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said at a news conference in Warsaw.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 June 2026
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The humanities will survive not by defending an imagined past of disinterested purity, but by demonstrating their necessity in a fractured republic.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
16 June 2026
Noun
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His kingdom, the gesture implied, was already full.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
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But Curaçao knows its roots extend to the kingdom almost 5,000 miles away, on a different continent.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
20 June 2026
Noun
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Britain already has the highest borrowing costs in the Group of Seven wealthy nations due to its high debt and interest payments.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
22 June 2026
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Scotland is a very small nation, six million people who have not been in the World Cup in 28 years.—
Andre Fernandez,
Miami Herald,
22 June 2026
Noun
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Build the empire on top of all of it.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
21 June 2026
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What emerges is a portrait of Maurice as both architect and enigma, a man whose creative vision built an empire and whose personal choices left fractures still being processed decades later.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
20 June 2026
Noun
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The treaty involves regular onsite inspections by the IAEA to confirm that countries are complying with the treaty’s terms.—
Adithi Ramakrishnan,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
-
Beijing broadly denies providing weapons to countries in conflict.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
20 June 2026
Noun
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The Duke of Cornwall inherited the duchy in September 2022.—
Juliana Ukiomogbe,
InStyle,
5 June 2026
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The European duchy is Luxembourg.—
Drew Goins,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2026
Noun
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Eight towns in the commonwealth remain dry.—
Editorial Board,
Washington Post,
23 June 2026
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The lands historically now known as Ukraine were occupied by the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth for centuries, and many Ukrainians view their nation’s genesis as the rebellion of Cossack Hetman Boghdan Khmelnitsky against the commonwealth, an event characterized by massacres of Poles and Jews.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
20 June 2026
Noun
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The tiny principality is perhaps best known for its ski resorts, but in the warmer months, travelers swap the slopes for scenic hiking trails that wind through the Pyrenees Mountains.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
22 June 2026
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The Alpine Gasly – along with four others – were handed time penalties for speeding in the Monaco pit lane during the race in the principality in early June.—
Madeline Coleman,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“City-state.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/city-state. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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