metropolis

American  

[mi-trop-uh-lis] / mɪˈtrɒp ə lɪs /

noun

plural

metropolises

1. any large, busy city.

2. the chief, and sometimes capital, city of a country, state, or region.

3. a central or principal place, as of some activity.

   the music metropolis of France.

4. the mother city or parent state of a colony, especially of an ancient Greek colony.

5. the chief see of an ecclesiastical province.

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metropolis British  

/ mɪˈtrɒpəlɪs /

noun

1. the main city, esp of a country or region; capital

2. a centre of activity

3. the chief see in an ecclesiastical province

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Etymology

Origin of metropolis

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin mētropolis < Greek mētrópolis a mother state or city, equivalent to mētro-, combining form of mḗtēr mother ¹ + pólis -polis, polis

Explanation

A large, densely populated urban area is called a metropolis. "She liked living in a metropolis because there were many opportunities in a city that were not available elsewhere, like 24-hour diners." The noun metropolis comes from the Greek roots mētēr, meaning "mother," and pólis, meaning "city." Historically, the word referred to the founding city-state of a region in Ancient Greece. Today the word refers to any urban area. The largest metropolis in Massachusetts is Boston, which is also the capital. Sometimes people use the word metropolis ironically or sarcastically: "She came from the booming metropolis of Tumbleweed, population 325."

Example Sentences

Ms. Paces’s account of Prague’s transformation into a burgeoning Czech metropolis over the course of the 19th century is hazy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Efficient urban planning has transformed what was once an island of fishing villages into a gleaming metropolis of high-rises.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

In the 19th and 20th centuries, it helped the city become a bustling metropolis, home to sizable European diasporas and a distinct cosmopolitan culture.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

It is now a ramshackle, seemingly lost-in-time metropolis where residents sit on porches observing the unsteady progress of cars navigating pothole-ridden streets.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2026

Los Angeles soon became unlike any other city the world had ever seen, sprawling and horizontal, a thoroughly suburban metropolis of detached homes — a glimpse of the future, molded by the automobile.

From "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser

Related Words

• capital
• downtown
• municipality