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megalopolis

noun
meg·​a·​lop·​o·​lis | \ ˌme-gə-ˈlä-pə-ləs How to pronounce megalopolis (audio) \

Definition of megalopolis

1 : a very large city
2 : a thickly populated region centering in a metropolis or embracing several metropolises
Other Words from megalopolis Synonyms Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about megalopolis

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Other Words from megalopolis

megalopolitan \ ˌme-​gə-​lō-​ˈpä-​lə-​tən How to pronounce megalopolitan (audio) \ noun or adjective

Did You Know?

A "large city" named Megalopolis was founded in Greece in 371 B.C. to help defend the region called Arcadia against the city-state of Sparta. Though a stadium seating 20,000 was built there, indicating the city's impressive size for its time, Megalopolis today has only about 5,000 people. Social scientists now identify 10 megalopolises in the U.S., each with more than 10 million people. The one on the eastern seaboard that stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C., where the densely populated cities seem to flow into each other all along the coast, is now home to over 50 million people. But it's easily surpassed by the Japanese megalopolis that includes Tokyo, with more than 80 million inhabitants.

Examples of megalopolis in a Sentence

what was once a series of discrete towns interspersed with countryside is now one vast megalopolis

Recent Examples on the Web

 Complexity and variability in the messy megalopolises of emerging markets (because of the lack of formal addresses, say, and standstill traffic) spur innovation. — The Economist, "DistributionAmazon and Alibaba are pacesetters of the next supply-chain revolution," 12 July 2019 The coastal megalopolis continues to pump too much water from its aquifers, causing the land to collapse by almost a foot a year in some places. — Lydia Horne, WIRED, "The App Creeping on Your IG Location, Jakarta’s Insurance Crisis, and More News," 19 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'megalopolis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of megalopolis

circa 1828, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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More Definitions for megalopolis

megalopolis

noun
How to pronounce megalopolis (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of megalopolis

US
: a very large city
: an area that includes a large city or several large cities

See the full definition for megalopolis in the English Language Learners Dictionary

More from Merriam-Webster on megalopolis

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for megalopolis

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about megalopolis

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