as in sophisticated
having a wide and refined knowledge of the world especially from personal experience
a college student who now seems conspicuously cosmopolitan after spending his junior year abroad
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in sophisticate
a person with the outlook, experience, and manners thought to be typical of big city dwellers
as someone who had lived in Paris for a year as an exchange student, she seemed very much the cosmopolitan to her old classmates
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cosmopolitan
Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2026
Advertisement Michael, at his peak, offered us a cosmopolitan dreaminess that feels too remote in today’s hyper-fractured world.
—Steven Gray, Time, 29 Apr. 2026
Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
The adjective cosmopolitan only begins to describe Sajet, who has had important life experiences on four continents.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cosmopolitan
Adjective
In the past decade, the leadership of the Kinahan organization has become rich and cosmopolitan, and their life styles have started to resemble those of international businessmen more than of street hoodlums.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2026
Advertisement Michael, at his peak, offered us a cosmopolitan dreaminess that feels too remote in today’s hyper-fractured world.
—Steven Gray, Time, 29 Apr. 2026
Noun
If top-level soccer is now played by something like rootless cosmopolitans, it’s financed by billionaires who are no longer primarily European.
—Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
The adjective cosmopolitan only begins to describe Sajet, who has had important life experiences on four continents.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cosmopolitan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cosmopolitan
Adjective
-
The area North Cornwall has plenty of fancy restaurants, but Prawn on the Lawn in Padstow gets the balance right between sophisticated seafood and laidback service.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
16 May 2026
-
As a solo artist, Batmanglij writes in a style that is baroque and sophisticated, and lightly warped in a way that recalls both Paul Simon and Radiohead.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
International sophisticates of every age, seasonal trade-fair young professionals, glamour puss models, honeymooners, couples with kids in tow, heads of state and some of the world’s biggest film stars.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The novel was adapted into a 1965 film, with Caine in a star-making performance as Deighton’s protagonist, a sardonic working-class sophisticate with a love of gourmet food.—
Jill Lawless,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
As for the documentary, that was spurred by Scorsese's trip to Polizzi Generosa, a town where her father's ancestors are from, in the Italian metropolitan of Palermo.—
Ralphie Aversa,
USA Today,
10 Dec. 2025
-
From Atlantic beaches to Western mountains to central metropolitans, there’s a destination suited to every type of traveler.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
21 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cosmopolitan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cosmopolitan. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
