metropolis
noun
Simple meaning
A large and densely populated urban area.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
muhtrahpuhluhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
mətˈɹɑpələs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
A large, busy city, especially as the main city in an area or country or as distinguished from surrounding rural areas.
Orthodox Christianity
The see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops.
Nickname for New York City: a major city in New York, United States.
A classical city site in Anatolia (Turkey).
historyespecially Ancient Greece
The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
Used this way, metropolis is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Relating to or characteristic of a metropolis.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.