metacognitive

American  

[met-uh-kog-ni-tiv] / ˌmɛt əˈkɒg nɪ tɪv /

adjective

1. having to do with metacognition, high-level thinking that enables understanding.

   The students are disengaged from the curriculum, and they have not gained a metacognitive understanding of the material.

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Etymology

Origin of metacognitive

meta- + cognitive ( def. )

Example Sentences

They show working memory and metacognitive monitoring, the ability to track and reflect on their own thought processes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 25, 2025

They plan to continue their research in this area, including using population studies to further investigate what kind of specific parental nurturing factors and sociocultural values affect individuals' metacognitive and mentalizing abilities.

From Science Daily • Apr. 18, 2024

These cognitive behavioral therapies and metacognitive approaches to understanding behaviors often do that sort of thing.

From Salon • Oct. 15, 2023

Having an idea, composing it into language, and checking to see whether that language matches our original idea is a metacognitive process that changes us.

From Slate • Feb. 3, 2023

From a metacognitive frame, we can critically assess our thought process, become skeptical of our gut reactions and intuitions, and reconsider our cognitive tendencies and biases.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022