as in republic
a state that has its own government and consists of a city and the area around it
the city-states of ancient Greece
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Recent Examples of city-state
In the wealthy city-state of Singapore, migrant workers are excluded from the country’s Employment Act and limits on working hours, among other protections, and are restricted from participating in union activities, the report said.
—
Elaine Kurtenbach, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The mayor talked about the new level of city-state cooperation.
—Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
With crops failing and fears of starvation rising, some wealthy Italian city-states like Florence and Venice imported grain from elsewhere in the world.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 4 Dec. 2025
An ensuing grain shortage threatened to spark a famine or civil unrest, so Italian city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, resorted to emergency imports from the Black Sea region, which helped keep the population fed.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for city-state
Elaine Kurtenbach, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
The mayor talked about the new level of city-state cooperation.
—Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
With crops failing and fears of starvation rising, some wealthy Italian city-states like Florence and Venice imported grain from elsewhere in the world.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 4 Dec. 2025
An ensuing grain shortage threatened to spark a famine or civil unrest, so Italian city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, resorted to emergency imports from the Black Sea region, which helped keep the population fed.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for city-state
Recent Examples of Synonyms for city-state
Noun
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Voting is the highest civic act in a constitutional republic.—
Matt Klink,
Oc Register,
1 May 2026
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The general’s comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in statements that Ukraine has evidence Russia provided Iran intelligence support and material support for the Islamic republic’s drone programs.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Consider going out to look for special furniture or items that could transform your home into even more of a kingdom.—
Kyle Thomas,
PEOPLE,
26 Apr. 2026
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The deal is expected to include promoting music events held in the kingdom to global audiences, and may also cover sports tournaments hosted in the country.—
Matthew Martin,
semafor.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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By March, Ukraine had dispatched more than two hundred military experts to help Persian Gulf nations defend against Iranian drone attacks.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2026
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News round-up FIFA plans to increase prize money and participation fees for the 48 competing nations at the World Cup.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The guys who have literally created their entire media empires around being online and around the clip ecosystem, livestreaming, et cetera?—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
24 Apr. 2026
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Bud is the evil empire of beer.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Though Baudelaire was influenced by Poe’s macabre imagination, decadence never developed its own school in nineteenth-century America, then still a young country.—
Olivia Kan-Sperling,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
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Want to learn more about faraway countries on free embassy tours?—
Fritz Hahn,
Washington Post,
1 May 2026
Noun
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The Austrian archduchess Marie Louise, former empress of the French, who was granted Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla for her lifetime, preserved some of the Napoleonic administrative and legal structure in the duchy.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
12 Mar. 2026
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La Tour was born in Lorraine, a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1593, twenty-one years after Caravaggio, whose sensational combination of naturalism and theater, light and dark, formed him as a painter.—
Nicole Krauss,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The commonwealth’s decision to draw a new map comes after Texas, Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina enacted new maps to add Republican seats, while California and Utah enacted new maps adding Democratic seats.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
28 Apr. 2026
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Democrats’ narrower-than-expected but still-decisive win in Tuesday’s plebiscite undoing the commonwealth’s own truce may or may not be the end of it.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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With that, Grace decided to abandon her blazing career in Hollywood and move to the small principality of Monaco.—
Francesca Pellegrini,
Vanity Fair,
19 Apr. 2026
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On this day in 1956, the two-day wedding celebration of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III began in the tiny European principality of Monaco.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“City-state.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/city-state. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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