With limited natural materials with high-efficiency response in terahertz band are not very common, there are many difficulties in developing terahertz functional devices and manipulating terahertz waves. As one of artificial synthetic electromagnetic materials, metamaterials can achieve anticipative frequency response by designing the shape, structure and size of the metamaterial unit cell, resulting in great potential in terahertz wave manipulation. This paper mainly summarizes the latest research achievements and challenges in terahertz metamaterials area, and the research progress of terahertz absorber and modulator enabled by metamaterials are also presented. Based on the above analysis, technical development trend and future hotspots in terahertz metamaterial area are prospected.