Table of Contents
Definition of Metropolis
(noun) A large city, including exurbs and suburbs, that has distinct administrative and cultural districts.
Examples of Metropolis
- Chicago, United States
- Paris, France
- Sydney, Australia
Metropolis Pronunciation
Syllabification: me·trop·o·lis
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /muh-trAHp-uh-luhs/
- British English – /mi-trOp-uh-lis/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /məˈtrɑp(ə)ləs/
- British English – /mᵻˈtrɒpəlɪs/
Usage Notes
- Plural: metropolises
- Also called metropole.
- Residents of a metropolis are (noun) metropolitans and live in a (adjective) metropolitan area.
Additional Information
Related Terms
- bedroom community
- crime
- exurb
- gentrification
- megalopolis
- stockbroker belt
- suburb
- urban renewal
- white flight
Works Consulted
Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Metropolis
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “metropolis.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/metropolis/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
metropolis. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/metropolis/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “metropolis.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/metropolis/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“metropolis.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/metropolis/>.