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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

But she also thrives when writing about “Taylor Swift” — the idea, the metanarrative, the character.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2022

Characters could die in one episode and be fine in the next, all connected via a multiverse metanarrative as ambitious as anything attempted by Marvel or Rick and Morty.

From The Verge • Nov. 16, 2021

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

From Slate • Apr. 5, 2019

And they hear that and that plays into a narrative, a metanarrative, a metacognition that resonates with them.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2016

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