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 development

Mild cognitive impairment … involves a decline in mental acuity that is noticeable but not severe enough to be diagnosed as dementia.

—Nicholas Bakalar

… researchers kept people just slightly sleep deprived … and watched the subjects' performance on cognitive tests plummet.

—James Hamblin

2

philosophy : based on or capable of being reduced to empirical factual knowledge

debate whether normative statements can be cognitive

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

Recent Examples on the Web

People can share the same diagnosis but have very different symptom patterns, and this study suggests those patterns may not all have the same relationship to later cognitive health. —Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026

Other components of coffee, such as the polyphenol caffeic acid, which is not the same as caffeine, have been shown to increase learning and boost cognitive function while also reducing stress and inflammation in the brain. —Cory Martin, Verywell Health, 5 Feb. 2026

Some foresee this leading to a sort of explosion in the intelligence of AI systems, while others caution that such iteration might work to increase capabilities in some domains — like software engineering — while AI systems will continue to struggle on cognitive or physical abilities. —Jared Perlo, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026

Child psychiatrist and Yale School of Medicine professor Yann Poncin previously told USA TODAY that over time, technology exposure rewires the brain to expect instant gratification, depleting the brain’s cognitive patience and threshold for tolerating frustration in the process. —Rachel Hale, USA Today, 4 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin cognitīvus "concerned with knowing," from Latin cognitus, past participle of cognōscere "to get to know, acquire knowledge of" + -īvus -ive — more at cognition

First Known Use

1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cognitive

• cognitive behavioral therapy
• cognitive behavior therapy
• cognitive dissonance
• cognitive science
• cognitive therapy

Rhymes for cognitive

• neurocognitive

Kids 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

cognitively adverb