Word.ws English Dictionary

city upon a hill

city upon a hill noun: a morally exemplary settlement, destined by God for greater things. Most often used to refer to the United States, or more specifically the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Noun

city upon a hill

  1. A morally exemplary settlement, destined by God for greater things. Most often used to refer to the United States, or more specifically the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Forms of city upon a hill

alternative formcity on a hill

Origin of city upon a hill

From Matthew 5:14. Cited by English colonist John Winthrop in the 1630 sermon A Model of Christian Charity. In turn, Winthrop's sermon was co-opted by later figures as an example of American exceptionalism.

Questions about city upon a hill

What does city upon a hill mean?
City upon a hill means a morally exemplary settlement, destined by God for greater things. Most often used to refer to the United States, or more specifically the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
What part of speech is city upon a hill?
City upon a hill is a noun.

Words near city upon a hill in the dictionary

  1. city technology colleges
  2. City Terrace
  3. City That Never Sleeps
  4. city titties
  5. city titty
  6. city upon a hill
  7. city wall
  8. city walls
  9. city water
  10. city's finest
  11. city-builder

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: city upon a hill (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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