as in republics
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-states
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
Consequently, Persia abandoned its westward expansion, while various Greek city-states formed a tenuous alliance that lasted nearly 50 years.
—Debbie Felton, The Conversation, 8 Aug. 2025
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
Consequently, Persia abandoned its westward expansion, while various Greek city-states formed a tenuous alliance that lasted nearly 50 years.
—Debbie Felton, The Conversation, 8 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for city-states
Noun
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The burial ground dates back to a significant time in English history, when regional kingdoms started to form and consolidate power.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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The early Iron Age kingdoms of Neo-Assyria, Egypt, Israel and Judah, and their relationship to the Phoenician cities, underlie our understanding of these events.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Coming from nations, and ships, with clear hierarchies and orders of command, Europeans arrived in a take-me-to-your-leader frame of mind.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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A number of European nations have taken hardline policies on immigration, like Italy’s controversial practice of sending asylum seekers rescued at sea to deportation centers.—
Pau Mosquera,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Test your knowledge of sports soundtracks, entertainment empires and more in this week's American Culture Quiz.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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Prosperous empires throughout history have suffered failures born from complacency.—
Jamie Holmes,
Twin Cities,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Decoding the reasons A potential breakout of World War cannot be ruled out in the present, with multiple countries going at loggerheads over various issues.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Jan. 2026
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Its dual mission is to bridge the early-stage funding gap and guarantee global access, ensuring products aren’t confined to wealthy markets for decades but are introduced in low- and middle-income countries in parallel.—
Ana Castelain,
Bloomberg,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“City-states.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/city-states. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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