necropolis
Americannoun
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necropolises
plural
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a cemetery, especially one of large size and usually of an ancient city.
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a historic or prehistoric burial ground.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of necropolis
First recorded in 1810–20, necropolis is from the Greek word nekrópolis burial place (literally, city of the dead). See necro-, -polis
Explanation
Use the noun necropolis to talk about a cemetery, especially an ancient, historical burying ground. You are more likely to find King Tut in a necropolis than your Great Aunt Edna. Any graveyard can be called a necropolis, but the word is best used to describe a very large burying ground made up of tombs, or the ancient grave site of a famous or powerful historical figure. The pyramid at Giza, in Egypt, is an example of a necropolis — it's the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh. In Latin, necropolis literally means "city of the dead," from the Greek burial site Nekropolis.
Vocabulary lists containing necropolis
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The underwater necropolis, which was discovered by a team of researchers from China, Italy and New Zealand, is teeming with organisms and species that "may be new to science", according to journal Nature.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
"But discovering a necropolis of this scale was completely unexpected: the size of distribution, the depth and the age range were far beyond anything we had imagined," Xiaotong Peng said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Mitch Hutchcraft, Alico’s executive vice president of real estate, agreed to give me a personal tour of this citrus necropolis.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
Today the glamorous necropolis is “the jewel in the crown of cemetery tourism,” Mr. Gallot notes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Even though neither of us was superstitious, that necropolis of crosses, cupolas, and tombstones had us pretty nervous.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Medieval necropolises and Bronze Age burial mounds called kurgans are likewise threatened, researchers write today in Antiquity.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 30, 2023
The array of sanctuaries ranges from expansive necropolises bearing multitudes of soldiers from different nationalities to humbler graveyards and individual monuments.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
“People reused the Etruscan necropolises multiple times to bury their dead,” Posth says.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 23, 2021
And the public mood turned against necropolises - cities of the dead - as garden-style cemeteries became the norm.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2012
In Egypt now are only graves, tombs, necropolises and silence.
From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 10 Little Journeys To The Homes Of Great Teachers by Elbert Hubbard
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
