conceit

1 of 2

noun

con·​ceit kən-ˈsēt How to pronounce conceit (audio)
1
a
: favorable opinion
especially : excessive appreciation of one's own worth or virtue
… the landlord's conceit of his own superior knowledge … Adam Smith
b(1)
: a result of mental activity : thought
(2)
: individual opinion
2
a
: a fanciful idea
b
: an elaborate or strained metaphor
The poem abounds in metaphysical conceits.
c
: use or presence of such conceits in poetry
d
: an organizing theme or concept
… found his conceit for the film early …Peter Wilkinson
… the historian's conceit that the past is forever prologue …Leon V. Sigal
3
: a fancy item or trifle
Conceits were fancy desserts, made either of sugar … or pastry.Francie Owen

conceit

2 of 2

verb

conceited; conceiting; conceits

transitive verb

1
chiefly dialectal : imagine
2
dialectal British : to take a fancy to
3
obsolete : conceive, understand

Examples of conceit in a Sentence

Noun His conceit has earned him many enemies. the conceit that the crowd at the outdoor rock concert was a vast sea of people waving to the beat of the music Verb after a huge meal like that, I cannot conceit eating another thing for the rest of the day
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The conceit, pulled from Renée Knight’s 2015 novel of the same name, is at first pleasingly retrograde, then turns remarkably stupid. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2024 The elements that made Smile get under your skin are sacrificed in bloody spectacle and the relative simplicity of the conceit gets muddied as the movie pushes beyond the two-hour mark. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Oct. 2024 The conceit of a therapist opening his doors late at night is a gateway to various after-hours stories. Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2024 The film’s central visual conceit imagines Reeve’s Superman, cast in concrete, floating through space, laced with digital effects depictions of what the spinal cord injury has done to his body. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 11 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for conceit 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conceit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from conceivre — see conceive

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b(1)

Verb

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of conceit was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near conceit

Cite this Entry

“Conceit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceit. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

conceit

noun
con·​ceit
kən-ˈsēt
1
: too much pride in one's own worth or virtue
2
a
: an idea showing imagination
b
: a complicated way of expressing something

More from Merriam-Webster on conceit

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