URBANITY Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

urbanity

noun

Definition of urbanity

as in cosmopolitanism

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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 urbanity Catherine’s house doesn’t evoke Hyde Park brownstones, or even urbanity, so much as some generic Midwest vista, which is not right for this play. — Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 17 Apr. 2026 And with many of us wound up in concrete urbanity, the livestreams offer instant transportation to the wild. — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2026 Advertisement Mamdani’s vision of an equitable, affordable urbanity emerges as a challenge to this long history of abandonment and exclusion. — Fahad Zuberi, Time, 5 Nov. 2025 In Otsuki’s collection, elements of the Japanese salaryman mixed with the urbanity of Gere’s Julian Kay create a compelling blend of references that ultimately play to each designer’s strength. — Brett F. Braley-Palko, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for urbanity

Recent Examples of Synonyms for urbanity

Noun

Although his roles were ostensibly romantic leads, Astaire had an almost radically unorthodox appeal—one that, in its urbanity, cosmopolitanism, elegance, and grace, challenged the prevailing standards for male movie stardom.

— David Hajdu, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026
Colorful glass lamps from Turkey These were purchased at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul—a city Field has visited numerous times and enjoys for its cosmopolitanism—while scouting for Sex and the City II.

— Erin Florio, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of cosmopolitanism

Noun

The movie sanitizes the past and removes its tang, its pungency, leaving a craving for contact with nature, with raw experience, with incongruities and accidents and anything but what fits, in lieu of such synthetic sophistication.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2026
Most impressive is its capacity to achieve the perfect balance between design and sophistication, without being uptight or boring.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of sophistication

Noun

These critiques were amplified by Black content creators and the general social media audience, who took issue with the genre’s Eurocentric portrayal of knowledge and intellectualism.

— Sophia Zhang, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 July 2026
Fans of trivia like to say that caring so deeply about these facts at a time of disinformation and anti-intellectualism is an act of defiance—that picking up trivia is a way to keep knowledge from being disappeared.

— Drew Goins, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026

Definition of intellectualism

Noun

The union argues that income limits topping $500,000 in parts of the state make it more a tax break for the wealthy than an education program.

— Lara Murray-Sterzel, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
Its eventual deployment could help the university explore how emerging aircraft fit into policing, emergency management, and engineering education.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of education

Noun

That kind of cynicism is cheap and facile and masquerades as intelligence and erudition.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Longworth’s deep research, erudition, and spectacularly precise elocution have made the now-indie podcast essential storytelling for cinephiles.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 23 July 2026

Definition of erudition

Noun

Neil Fuentes, a founder of the New Haven Academy of Performing Arts and the artistic director of Broadway on Main, brings an uncommon gentility and hearty spirit to the character of Murray the Cop.

— Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
There’s a certain kind of gentility and politeness, and then on the flip side, dark humor and grotesquerie.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of gentility

Noun

If you are diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, or another learning challenge, take advantage of treatment to manage the good and address the challenges.

— Diane Brady, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
However, their claims of revolutionizing teaching and learning, of unlocking the potential of education, and of transforming the institution of school suggest otherwise.

— Kamau Bobb October 21, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of learning

Noun

Despite the claims and clamor, well into the twenty-first century, less than 40 percent of American twelfth graders are proficient in basic literacy.

— Kamau Bobb October 21, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026
He was born into enslavement in Edgefield District, South Carolina, bound by laws that forbade Black literacy.

— Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of literacy

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urbanites

urbanity

urbanize

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“Urbanity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/urbanity. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of urbanity

noun

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