megalopolis
/mɛ.ɡəˈlɒ.pə.lɪs/
megalopolis · noun — A large conurbation, where two or more large cities have sprawled outward to meet, forming something larger than a normal metropolis. It carries an Arena rating of 1636, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, megalopolis ranks #1,871 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,369 of 17,136 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,415 of 17,137 for Most Sublime Words, #3,265 of 17,135 for Most Satisfying to Say.
megalopolis is pronounced /mɛ.ɡəˈlɒ.pə.lɪs/.
Why “megalopolis” is a great word
MEGALOPOLIS — [Noun] A vast, heavily populated urban region formed by the merging of several metropolitan areas. From the combining form megalo- (from Greek μέγας, megas, "great") + -polis (from Greek πόλις, polis, "city"). First recorded in English use in 1832. Unlike a "metropolis," which denotes a single major city and its immediate orbit, or a "conurbation," a more general term for merged towns, a megalopolis is a specific, continental-scale conurbation. It is the glow of a thousand indistinguishable towns bleeding into one seamless electric dawn from a night flight, the seamless transition marked only by a shift in the radio station, the sensation of driving for hours and never leaving the grasp of concrete and light—the human world grown so large it begins to generate its own weather.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From megalo- (“great”) + -polis (“city”).
noun
- A large conurbation, where two or more large cities have sprawled outward to meet, forming something larger than a normal metropolis.e.g.“The Eastern Seaboard megalopolis extends from New Hampshire to Alexandria, VA.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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