the.com/superstate
A country so big it needs other countries' permission to call itself one.
means A political entity formed by multiple nations or states merging their power into one larger governing body, especially one that looms over its members and its neighbors alike.
from Built from 'super-' (Latin for 'above' or 'beyond') plus 'state' (from Latin status, meaning the condition or standing of something, which came to mean an organized political community). The combination is a 20th-century coinage, rising alongside talk of federations and unions whose scale outgrew the old nation-state — a word invented because 'empire' felt too old-fashioned and 'alliance' too weak.
- textbook example
- European Union, depending who you ask and when
- the insult version
- used by critics who think sovereignty is being stolen
- key feature
- shared rules, currency, or borders without one flag
- never fully arrives
- always becoming, rarely officially declared