as in city
a thickly settled, highly populated area
a sprawling cosmopolis where ambitious people from all over come to make their fortune
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Recent Examples of cosmopolis
While Istanbul and Cappadocia are more popular with tourists to Turkey, don't miss the chance to explore Izmir, which was once the country's most thriving cosmopolis.
—
Lilit Marcus, CNN, 8 Oct. 2022
Istanbul is a cosmopolis unlike any other—where the remains of former empires, the cultural influences of multi-ethnic communities, and contemporary Turkish identity all exist in delicate harmony.
—Feride Yalav-Heckeroth, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 June 2022
On the Volga a quasi-capital rose at Sarai, established by Batu around 1250, and grew into a cosmopolis of artisans, farmers, and merchants from as far away as Syria, Egypt, even Greece—so many that a New Sarai was founded upriver.
—Colin Thubron, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2021
For decades a symbol of all that was dead and dysfunctional in the ever-expanding cosmopolis, the river is undergoing its own rehabilitation, shedding some of its visible concrete.
—Alexandra Marshall, WSJ, 14 Aug. 2018
Lilit Marcus, CNN, 8 Oct. 2022
Istanbul is a cosmopolis unlike any other—where the remains of former empires, the cultural influences of multi-ethnic communities, and contemporary Turkish identity all exist in delicate harmony.
—Feride Yalav-Heckeroth, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 June 2022
On the Volga a quasi-capital rose at Sarai, established by Batu around 1250, and grew into a cosmopolis of artisans, farmers, and merchants from as far away as Syria, Egypt, even Greece—so many that a New Sarai was founded upriver.
—Colin Thubron, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2021
For decades a symbol of all that was dead and dysfunctional in the ever-expanding cosmopolis, the river is undergoing its own rehabilitation, shedding some of its visible concrete.
—Alexandra Marshall, WSJ, 14 Aug. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cosmopolis
Noun
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To close out a busy Day 2, the Steelers selected a mauling guard with a mullet, who will come to a city where that haircut never went out of style.—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former President Islam Karimov, is behind bars in Uzbekistan as the trial opens in a Swiss federal criminal court in the southern city of Bellinzona.—
Jamey Keaten,
Fortune,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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From Atlantic beaches to Western mountains to central metropolises, there’s a destination suited to every type of traveler.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
26 Apr. 2026
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Viewed from certain perspectives—the perspective of history, the perspective of the roughly one quarter of the world that was once colonized by Britain—London is a metropolis built on crime.—
Mark O’Connell,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The story is set in 2013, in a town in an unnamed New England state.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
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Boasting 37 miles of pure electric power, the NX450h+ certainly succeeds for consumers looking to float around town.—
Marc D Grasso,
Hartford Courant,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cosmopolis.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cosmopolis. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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