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metanarrative

British

/ ˈmɛtəˌnærətɪv /

noun

(in postmodernist literary theory) a narrative about a narrative or narratives

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of metanarrative

C20: from _meta- + _narrative

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.

The effect of the metanarrative is to juxtapose Byron’s violent passions with the careful, repressed behavior of one who hoped to capture him in literature.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

Murphy’s work always tries to tease out a metanarrative about the American condition, whether the topic celebrates fame and glamor or indictment of our failings and excesses.

From Salon • Oct. 4, 2024

Here, Cage takes that to the nth degree in a metanarrative that syncs his fandom’s Cage-related obsessions with his own reflections on stardom.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023

Inscryption is a deck-building card-battling roguelike but with a fantastically dark and mysterious metanarrative that elevates it from “interesting” to “utterly engrossing.”

From The Verge • Jun. 23, 2022

But the show’s own metanarrative also fetishizes harmony and feminine solidarity.

From Slate • Apr. 5, 2019

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023