1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

microstates

noun

plural of microstate
as in nation-states

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for microstates
  1. nation-states
  2. city-states
  3. countries
  4. nations
  5. domains
  6. kingdoms
  7. empires
Noun
  • Historically, adversarial nation-states were largely considered the biggest cybersecurity threat to critical infrastructure.
    — Justine Calma, The Verge, 20 Sep. 2026
  • For the first 15 years thereafter, terrorism supplanted other threats such as those coming from nation-states (China, Iran, North Korea and Russia), and our country took our eye off of existential threats to our security.
    — John M. Weaver, Baltimore Sun, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of nation-states
Noun
  • His historical record of the Peloponnesian War described how Athens’ rapid rise in power alarmed Sparta and made war between the two city-states inevitable.
    — Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 26 Sep. 2026
  • By the later Middle Ages, Italian city-states such as Venice and Genoa were major European trading centers, importing goods from the eastern Mediterranean and distributing them to markets across Europe.
    — Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of city-states
Noun
  • With their countries in a generational contest for economic and technological dominance, the two appear to be betting that a combination of personal rapport and mutual interest can prevent the competition from boiling over into open conflict.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Dentsu was founded in 1901 in Tokyo and now has a footprint spanning 120 countries and territories.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of countries
Noun
  • Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food that developing nations rely on.
    — HANNA ARHIROVA, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Zimbabwe is among several African nations resisting Washington’s push to replace broad health assistance with country-by-country agreements emphasizing domestic financing and reduced donor dependence.
    — Farai Mutsaka, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of nations
Noun
  • Another key potential of self-optimizing systems is expected to be superintelligence, where AI becomes cognitively smarter than humans across more and more domains.
    — Keith Tidman, Baltimore Sun, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Complex domains demand established standards that cannot be short-circuited.
    — Mo Husain, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of domains
Noun
  • The agreement followed a long struggle between the Hittite and Egyptian kingdoms for control of territory in ancient Syria.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Like kingdoms of old, SaaS companies are sitting on treasure troves of data.
    — Srinivas Velamoor, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of kingdoms
Noun
  • Istanbul, city of empires The city now known as Istanbul has been at the heart of empires, from the Roman to the Byzantine to the Ottoman, and their legacies can be found throughout the Turkish metropolis.
    — Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Fictional princes fill pop culture, from heroic leaders in science fiction empires to charming ones in modern takes on classic fairy tales.
    — Sarah Scott, Parents, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of empires
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.

Browse Nearby Words

microstate
microstates
microwave
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Microstates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/microstates. Accessed 30 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of epistemic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All