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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So Americans embraced Roman triumphal arches—symbols of that ancient republic—almost from the start.—
Tyler Green,
The Atlantic,
21 May 2026
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The Conte will find you regardless—whether in the gardens, the chapel, along the river, or by the water mill—ready to tell you exactly how this land fed Venice, sheltered its people, and outlasted its republic.—
Erica Firpo,
Travel + Leisure,
21 May 2026
Noun
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But the setting isn’t, say, a fairy tale village or a mermaid kingdom under the sea, to point at two Disney classics the film gives winking reference to.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
15 May 2026
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Absolute kingdoms of the '90s and early-2000s.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
Noun
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That mugshot—with her straight dark hair, motorcycle jacket, and flat, defiant stare—would come to represent a nation, and generation, in crisis; a startling declaration that America’s own sons and daughters had turned violently against their country.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 May 2026
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Local officials called the incident the worst single diving accident in the history of the Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 500 miles across the equator in the Indian Ocean.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 May 2026
Noun
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Within that diversity, the most conspicuous large-scale formations were always transnational empires.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
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Sabrina graduated from Harvard, and Tucker has expanded his bar empire.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
17 May 2026
Noun
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The event was the brainchild of country singer Willie Nelson, who was inspired by fellow musician Bob Dylan to hold a concert to raise money for American farmers.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
23 May 2026
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The consumer goods giant is well on its way to accomplishing that goal, with dozens of projects across 17 countries covering 254,000 hectares as of 2025.—
Mindy Lubber,
Forbes.com,
22 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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Communities in other states that also enjoy a tradition of local health regulation, including California, are studying NFG and watching these political dynamics in the commonwealth, placing Massachusetts’ public health leadership in the balance.—
Katharine Silbaugh,
STAT,
19 May 2026
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Wednesday, May 20, is Jimmy Stewart Day across the commonwealth — a day honoring the late actor and Indiana, Pennsylvania, native.—
Christopher DeRose,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
Noun
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The principality functions simultaneously as backdrop, laboratory and customer base.—
Stephan Rabimov,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
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The late actress became the Princess of the principality in 1956, and 70 years later, her second engagement ring remains one of the most expensive and influential in history.—
Alyssa Modos,
PEOPLE,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“City-state.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/city-state. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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