metadiegetic
Syllables: met·a·di·e·get·ic/ˌmɛt.ə.daɪ.ɪˈd͡ʒɛt.ɪk/
metadiegetic adjective: pertaining to a secondary narrative embedded within the primary narrative (a story within a story).
Adjective
metadiegetic (comparative more metadiegetic, superlative most metadiegetic)
- Pertaining to a secondary narrative embedded within the primary narrative (a story within a story).
- A particularly striking example appears in Hawthorne's next romance, The House of the Seven Gables, in which Chapter 13 consists entirely of a metadiegetic narrative entitled "Alice Pyncheon," composed and read by the diegetic character Holgrave.1995, Michael Dunne, Hawthorne’s Narrative Strategies, page 87
- The diegetic and metadiegetic aspects of the Joker's use of music also persist. Prince's "Trust" features diegetically in the festival parade as the Joker rides on his birthday-cake float, while the Straussian waltz reappears metadiegetically in the cue "Waltz," for the battle between Batman and...2004, Janet K. Halfyard, Danny Elfman's Batman: A Film Score Guide, page 108
- Synonyms:
- hypodiegetic
Synonyms of metadiegetic
Forms of metadiegetic
| comparative | more metadiegetic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most metadiegetic |
Origin of metadiegetic
From meta- + diegetic.
Words that rhyme with metadiegetic
- sympathetic
- hermetic
- kinetic
- athletic
- genetic
- magnetic
- energetic
- pathetic
- syndetic
- aesthetic
- diabetic
- diaeretic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- frenetic
- mimetic
- peripatetic
- planetic
- poetic
- tonetic
- abietic
- anesthetic
- anoetic
- anuretic
- apathetic
- ascetic
- auxetic
- cybernetic
- dietetic
- epithetic
- Helvetic
- parasympathetic
- parenthetic
- phyletic
- Sidetic
- splenetic
- synaeretic
- synizetic
- tabetic
- threnetic
- alexipyretic
- algetic
- alphabetic
- alphametic
- amuletic
- analgetic
- anchoretic
- anoretic
- aphetic
- aporetic
- archegetic
- asyndetic
- auletic
- autonoetic
- balletic
- Baphometic
- cardioparasympathetic
- cardiosympathetic
- cometic
- conspiracy-theoretic
- cynegetic
- diagenetic
Questions about metadiegetic
- What does metadiegetic mean?
- Metadiegetic means pertaining to a secondary narrative embedded within the primary narrative (a story within a story).
- What part of speech is metadiegetic?
- Metadiegetic is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce metadiegetic?
- Metadiegetic is pronounced /ˌmɛt.ə.daɪ.ɪˈd͡ʒɛt.ɪk/.
Words near metadiegetic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: metadiegetic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “metadiegetic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/metadiegetic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.