greater

/ˈɡreɪ.tər/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈɡreɪ.t̬ɚ/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈgrā-tər/ (ame, mw)

greater — adjective

  • greaterpositive
  • greaterercomparative
  • greaterestsuperlative

1. placed before a city name to mean the city plus all the suburbs, towns, and neig

1.形容詞B2
釋義

placed before a city name to mean the city plus all the suburbs, towns, and neighbourhoods that surround it and form one larger urban area — for example, Greater Tokyo includes both central Tokyo and the cities outside its main boundary.

例句

Greater London has nearly nine million residents spread across thirty-two boroughs.

pattern: Greater + [city name] with population figure

Faisal grew up in a quiet town in Greater Manchester, about thirty minutes from the city centre.

Greater + [city] naming a wider metropolitan region

同義詞
  • metropolitan

    more formal; used as a separate adjective (the metropolitan area of Paris) rather than directly before the city name

  • wider

    informal alternative in phrases like 'the wider London area'; less standardised than 'Greater'

反義詞
  • central

    refers only to the historical or administrative core of the city, not the surrounding suburbs

  • inner

    names the districts close to the city centre, contrasted with Greater + [city]

文法句型

Greater + [city name]

用法筆記

Always attributive and capitalised as part of a proper-noun phrase (Greater London, Greater Tokyo). Never used predicatively — you cannot say 'London is greater'. The city name that follows must be a real metropolitan centre, not a town or village.

常見錯誤

❌I live in the greater of London.
✅I live in Greater London.
💡'Greater' goes directly before the city name with a capital G; no article or 'of'.
❌Greater Smallville has two thousand people.
✅Smallville has two thousand people.
💡'Greater + city' only works for large urban centres with real surrounding suburbs.