Crossword Clue: Capital of Sri Lanka
Here's the answer to the Capital of Sri Lanka crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: COLOMBO
The answer to "Capital of Sri Lanka" is COLOMBO. Colombo runs 7 letters — 3 vowels and 4 consonants — opening with C and closing on O. In a grid it fills a 7-square slot whose letters are each shared with a crossing word, so the intersections do a lot of the heavy lifting when the clue itself is tough.
Origin & meaning
Colombo is Sri Lanka's largest city and commercial capital on the island's west coast. It was a key port controlled successively by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Its name may derive from a Sinhalese phrase for port on the river Kelani.
Common usage
You'll see COLOMBO in grids regularly — its 7-letter, 3 vowels shape is exactly what setters need to bridge trickier entries. When one intersecting letter is already in place, especially the C or O, COLOMBO tends to fall fast.
Crossword trivia
Short answers like COLOMBO are the connective tissue of a crossword. You'll meet COLOMBO again and again, and recognizing it instantly is one of the quiet skills that separates fast solvers from slow ones.
Stuck on this clue?
The fastest way past a stubborn clue like this one is the grid itself: pencil in the easy crossing answers first, and COLOMBO will often be the only word that fits the letters you already have.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue COLOMBO — sometimes with a straight dictionary definition, sometimes with wordplay, a pun, or a fill-in-the-blank — but the answer itself stays the same. Learning to spot the answer behind the disguise is a core crossword skill.
Example sentences
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing COLOMBO into the grid took no time at all."
- "Colombo is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing 'Capital of Sri Lanka' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in COLOMBO almost immediately."