cognitive
adjective
cog·ni·tive
ˈkäg-nə-tiv 
1
: of, relating to, being, or involving conscious intellectual activity (such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering)
cognitive impairment
cognitive tests
2
philosophy
: based on or capable of being reduced to empirical factual knowledge
cognitively
adverb
Examples of cognitive in a Sentence
The best toys for toddlers engage their interests while developing their fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, and social skills.
—
Ashley Ziegler and Katrina Cossey, Parents, 12 Nov. 2024
Homo sapiens' survival is founded in their filling an evolutionary niche referred to as the cognitive niche.
—Daniel Grassam, Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 2001
Researchers are debating whether heading balls can dent the cognitive skills of young soccer players for life.
—Lisa McLaughlin, Time, 5 June 2000
Ashley Ziegler and Katrina Cossey, Parents, 12 Nov. 2024
Homo sapiens' survival is founded in their filling an evolutionary niche referred to as the cognitive niche.
—Daniel Grassam, Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 2001
Researchers are debating whether heading balls can dent the cognitive skills of young soccer players for life.
—Lisa McLaughlin, Time, 5 June 2000
Recent Examples on the Web
But lucid dreaming involves metacognition, which is a type of cognitive control in which someone becomes aware of their own thoughts.
—Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
Whether models have passed this threshold—which OpenAI had previously defined publicly as an AI system capable of performing most economically-valuable cognitive tasks as well or better than a human—will also now be verified by an independent expert panel.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2025
What the team found was that always or frequently listening to music was associated with the greatest benefits, with a 39% lower incidence of dementia and 17% lower incidence of cognitive impairment.
—New Atlas, 27 Oct. 2025
Magnesium provides a similar effect to journaling, which can help people who struggle with sleep by offloading their cognitive load.
—Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cognitive
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Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
Whether models have passed this threshold—which OpenAI had previously defined publicly as an AI system capable of performing most economically-valuable cognitive tasks as well or better than a human—will also now be verified by an independent expert panel.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2025
What the team found was that always or frequently listening to music was associated with the greatest benefits, with a 39% lower incidence of dementia and 17% lower incidence of cognitive impairment.
—New Atlas, 27 Oct. 2025
Magnesium provides a similar effect to journaling, which can help people who struggle with sleep by offloading their cognitive load.
—Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cognitive
Cite this Entry
“Cognitive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cognitive
adjective
cog·ni·tive
ˈkäg-nət-iv
: of, relating to, or being conscious mental activities (as thinking, reasoning, remembering, imagining, learning words, and using language)
Medical Definition
cognitive
adjective
cog·ni·tive
ˈkäg-nət-iv
: of, relating to, or being conscious intellectual activity (as thinking, reasoning, remembering, imagining, or learning words)
the cognitive elements of perception—C. H. Hamburg
C. H. Hamburg
cognitively
adverb
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