Meta Meaning
/ˈmɛtə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounClipping of metagame.
nounClipping of metagame., An informal but widely adopted practice in a given field; a de facto standard.
Sentence Examples
The village people called the old woman Meta.
Meta will control your life.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The play was very ____ because the actors talked about being in a play.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The concept of ____ data refers to information that provides context or details about other sets of data.
Word Origin & History
Adjective etymology 1, adjective sense 1 is a back-formation from meta- (prefix). Adjective etymology 1, adjective sense 2 is derived from noun etymology 1, noun sense 1. The noun senses are clippings of various terms beginning with meta (prefix). Folk etymology for noun etymology 1, noun sense 1 also suggests an acronym for most effective/efficient tactic available.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The phrase, “tank meta”, is one that carries a lot of weight when it comes to MOBAs. These metas are generally characterized by tanky, unkillable behemoths dominating the meta and leaving any character that isn’t focused around raw DPS in the dust."
— 2022 November 17, Carver Fisher, “League of Legends preseason 13 has made tanks unkillable”, in Dexerto, archived from the original on 14 Dec 2024:
"I remember interviewing PewDiePie a few years ago, and he was sort of telling me about this time where it was like edgy videos were being really rewarded, so everyone was kind of chasing like edgy humor and edgy memes, and sort of trying to figure out where the edge was. And then YouTube changed the meta, and suddenly, it wasn't good to be edgy, you weren't going to make as much money or get as many views."
— 2023 October 27, 29:51 from the start, in Hard Fork (podcast), spoken by Kevin Roose, The New York Times:
"[…] in finessing obligations you fail a "meta" kind of obligation."
— 2002, Robert C. Neville, Religion in Late Modernity, →ISBN, page 31:
"Besides, I can just hear Vaughan: "Very funny, Stacey, very Charlie Kaufman-esque, very meta, very '97. I can't use it.""
— 2006, Brendan Vaughan, What Would MacGyver Do?, →ISBN, page 186:
"McDonald & Dodds is back, with episode one so deliberately hammy and meta that, technically, it should have been a complete horlicks. In one scene, when they were all hanging on to the balloon ropes, Mr Bean-like, to stop Jason Watkins flying away, it sort of was."
— 2021 March 1, Carol Midgley, “McDonald & Dodds review – cheerful escapism and filth-free distraction”, in The Times:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The play was very ____ because the actors talked about being in a play.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The concept of ____ data refers to information that provides context or details about other sets of data.