metropolitan

Syllables: me·tro·po·lit·anUK/mɛtɹəˈpɒlɪtən//ˌmɛtɹəˈpɑlɪtən/

metropolitan noun: a bishop empowered to oversee other bishops; an archbishop.

Noun

metropolitan (plural metropolitans)

A bishop empowered to oversee other bishops; an archbishop.
- I knovv God by Miracle can inſtruct Kings, as he rained Mannah, and raiſed the Apoſtles from letterless Fiſher-men, to learned Metropolitans, and profound Doctours.1663, Edward Waterhous[e], chapter I, in Fortescutus Illustratus; or A Commentary on that Nervous Treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, Written by Sir John Fortescue Knight, […], London: […] Tho[mas]...
- She was in love with all the new royal princes and princesses, who entered into family relationship with the imperial family; she had been in love with a metropolitan, with a vicar, and with a priest.1904 [1878], chapter 23, in Leo Wiener, transl., Anna Karénin, Boston: D. Estes & Company, translation of Анна Каренина (Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy, part 5, page 423
Synonyms:

metropolitan bishop
The inhabitant of a metropolis.

Adjective (1)

metropolitan (comparative more metropolitan, superlative most metropolitan)

Pertaining to the see or province of a metropolitan.
Of, or pertaining to, a metropolis or other large urban settlement.
- But the one [letter] in the unknown script and with a metropolitan post mark—could it be from some London Woman? In spite of having lived in the country all her life and for the most part in remote Devon, Miss Tilehurst had always understood that such beings really existed.1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
Of or pertaining to the parent state of a colony or territory, or the home country, e.g. metropolitan France
- Policies relating to the elimination of racial discrimination which obtain in metropolitan New Zealand are applicable in the Tokelau Islands.1974, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Report on the Tokelau Islands, page 8
- the new political status of these islands marks a definite break with the traditional Dutch colonial practice to keep its Caribbean colonies at a distance; and, after 2010, Dutch metropolitan laws and dministrative practices started being implemented on the islands.2015, Wouter Veenendaal, The Dutch Caribbean municipalities in comparative perspective. Island Studies Journal 10(1): 15–30

Adjective (2) capitalized: Metropolitan

Metropolitan (not comparable)

(England, dated) Of or pertaining to London, United Kingdom.

Proper noun capitalized: Metropolitan

Metropolitan

The Metropolitan Line of London Underground, which has its ancestry in the Metropolitan Railway.

Synonyms:

Met

metropolitan meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

metropolitan in Hindi

pertaining to a metropolis: महानगरीय mahānagarīya

metropolitan in Tamil

தலைநகர் வாழ்பவர், தலைநகர்ச் சார்ந்த, பெருநகர், நகரீ

metropolitan in Marathi

महानगर, मेट्रोपॉलिटन

metropolitan in Urdu

بڑے شہر کا

More languagesFewer languages

metropolitan in Bengali: মহানাগরিক, রাজধানীসংক্রান্ত, প্রধান গির্জার
metropolitan in Telugu: మెట్రోపాలిటన్, మెట్రొపాలిటన్
metropolitan in Malayalam: മെത്രാൻ metrāṉ
metropolitan in Kannada: ಮಹಾನಗರವಾಸಿ, ರಾಜಧಾನಿ ನಿವಾಸಿ, ಪಟ್ಟಣಿಗ, ನಾಗರಿಕ
metropolitan in Punjabi: ਮੈਟਰੋਪੋਲੀਟਨ, ਮਹਾਂਨਗਰੀ
metropolitan in Gujarati: મેટ્રોપોલિટન, મહાનગર
metropolitan in Odia: ମହାନଗର, ମେଟ୍ରୋପଲିଟାନ, ମେଟ୍ରୋପଲିଟାନ୍
metropolitan in Nepali: महानगरीय, मेट्रोपोलिटन
metropolitan in Arabic: مُطْرَان muṭrān, مِطْرَان miṭrān, مَطْرَان maṭrān
metropolitan in Vietnamese: giám mục đô thành

Examples of metropolitan in a sentence

Texarkana, Arkansas, and Texarkana, Texas, are twin cities forming the Texarkana metropolitan area.
Scotland Yard is, technically speaking, only the metropolitan police for Greater London but because of their importance they have special jurisdiction for some crimes across the United Kingdom.
The first step in creating megapolitan areas involved producing a map of the micropolitan and metropolitan counties.

All 36 example sentences with metropolitan

Synonyms of metropolitan

Antonyms

non-metropolitan

Forms of metropolitan

Noun
plural	metropolitans
Adjective
comparative	more metropolitan
superlative	most metropolitan

Plural of metropolitan: metropolitans

Origin of metropolitan

From Late Latin metropolitanus, from Ancient Greek μητροπολίτης (mētropolítēs).

Phrases with metropolitan

Words that rhyme with metropolitan

Questions about metropolitan

What does metropolitan mean?: Metropolitan means a bishop empowered to oversee other bishops; an archbishop.
What is metropolitan in Hindi?: Metropolitan in Hindi is महानगरीय (mahānagarīya). See Metropolitan meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is metropolitan?: Metropolitan can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce metropolitan?: Metropolitan is pronounced /mɛtɹəˈpɒlɪtən/ (UK).
What is the plural of metropolitan?: The plural of metropolitan is metropolitans.

Words near metropolitan in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: metropolitan (page history and authors); Metropolitan (page history and authors); metropolitan (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); metropolitan (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolitan (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); metropolitan (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); metropolitan (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolitan (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); metropolitan (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolitan (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolitan (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolitan (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-metropolitan.wav.

Cite this entry: “metropolitan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/metropolitan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.