cosmopolite

[ koz-mop-uh-lahyt ]

noun

1. a person who is cosmopolitan in their ideas, life, etc.; citizen of the world.
2. an animal or plant of worldwide distribution.

cosmopolite

/ kɒzˈmɒpəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a less common word for cosmopolitan
2. an animal or plant that occurs in most parts of the world

Derived Forms

• cosˈmopoliˌtism, noun

Other Words From

• cos·mopo·lit·ism noun
• noncos·mopo·lite noun
• noncos·mopo·lit·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cosmopolite¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Greek kosmopolī́tēs “citizen of the world,” equivalent to kosmo- cosmo- + polī́tēs “citizen” ( pól(is) “a city, state” + -ītēs -ite ¹ )

Example Sentences

“My father was killed in Russia. The war turned me into a cosmopolite and opponent of all nationalisms and all politics while just a schoolboy.”

From Washington Post

“He was a cosmopolite from Toronto, worldly, the kinda guy who’d be comfortable around the Queen of England herself. Me, I was a hick, born to the barren, rocky soil of the Ottawa Valley, where the richest man in town was the barber.”

From New York Times

Think Jay Gatsby meets Patrick Bateman meets Dickie Greenleaf: Yeun plays this smooth-talking cosmopolite with a pathological charm that never quite reveals itself in full, which is precisely what makes the characterization so uniquely chilling and seductive.

From The Guardian

The cosmopolite respects and appreciates difference, while acknowledging that “no local loyalty can ever justify forgetting that each human being has responsibilities to every other.”

From Slate

An unspoken but implied counterpoint to all the identities considered in The Lies That Bind is “cosmopolite,” which is how many Triestines viewed themselves in Svevo’s day.

From Slate

Related Words

• inhabitant
• national
• resident
• taxpayer