cosmopolitan

[koz-muh-pol-i-tn]

adjective

1. free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; at home all over the world.

   Synonyms: worldly, urbane, sophisticated
   Antonyms: parochial, provincial

2. of or characteristic of a cosmopolite.

3. belonging to all the world; not limited to just one part of the world.

4. Botany, Zoology.,  widely distributed over the globe.

noun

1. a person who is free from local, provincial, or national bias or attachment; citizen of the world; cosmopolite.

2. a cocktail made with vodka, cranberry juice, an orange-flavored liqueur, and lime juice.

cosmopolitan

/ ˌkɒzməˈpɒlɪtən /

noun

1. a person who has lived and travelled in many countries, esp one who is free of national prejudices

adjective

1. having interest in or familiar with many parts of the world

2. sophisticated or urbane

3. composed of people or elements from all parts of the world or from many different spheres

4. (of plants or animals) widely distributed

Other Word Forms

• cosmopolitanism noun
• cosmopolitanly adverb
• noncosmopolitan adjective
• uncosmopolitan adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cosmopolitan¹

First recorded in 1835–45; cosmopolite + -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of cosmopolitan¹

C17: from French, ultimately from Greek kosmopolitēs, from kosmo- _cosmo- + politēs citizen

Example Sentences

The village was peopled with "extraordinary, eccentric, cosmopolitan people, defeated by life", some of whom would later reappear in her fiction.

From BBC

But our cosmopolitan eateries eventually created a singular “fusion,” with its own explosion into a thriving restaurant scene.

From Los Angeles Times

The action has left indelible scars on the social fabric of the city, which prides itself on its cosmopolitan culture.

From BBC

In the process, the cosmopolitan modernist composer connects seemingly modernist devices like microtones to their historic roots.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s a charming community, but those facts make it sound somewhat more cosmopolitan than it is.

From Salon

Related Words

• cultured 
• metropolitan 
• sophisticated 
• urbane 
• worldly