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
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
Peter Wilkinson… the historian's conceit that the past is forever prologue …—Leon V. Sigal
Leon V. Sigal3
: a fancy item or trifle
Conceits were fancy desserts, made either of sugar … or pastry.—Francie Owen
Francie Owen
conceited; conceiting; conceits
1
chiefly dialectal
: imagine
2
dialectal British
: to take a fancy to
3
obsolete
: conceive, understand
Synonyms
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 WebSteven J. Horowitz, Variety, 13 July 2024
The fundamental test of taste is in Bodet’s realization of the potentially absurd anachronistic element—the lives and fortunes of Manet and Baudelaire in the age of the smartphone, a conceit that could easily have turned goofy or pedantic.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024
From the first sentence, the novel abounds in conceit.
—Jeremy Atherton Lin, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
Over the course of eight often befuddling episodes, creator and showrunner Brian Watkins used this wacky conceit to spotlight the modern American rancher’s obsession with an idealized past — along with his fear of losing the last vestiges of that way of life in the foreseeable future.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 15 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for conceit 
Noun
Over a brooding, stormy instrumental, Em takes the original song’s conceit — playing bad guy to Dr. Dre’s sounder mind — to pore over the damage that Slim has inflicted on his career and artistry.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 13 July 2024
The fundamental test of taste is in Bodet’s realization of the potentially absurd anachronistic element—the lives and fortunes of Manet and Baudelaire in the age of the smartphone, a conceit that could easily have turned goofy or pedantic.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024
From the first sentence, the novel abounds in conceit.
—Jeremy Atherton Lin, Washington Post, 4 July 2024
Over the course of eight often befuddling episodes, creator and showrunner Brian Watkins used this wacky conceit to spotlight the modern American rancher’s obsession with an idealized past — along with his fear of losing the last vestiges of that way of life in the foreseeable future.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 15 May 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.
Dictionary Entries Near conceit
Cite this Entry
“Conceit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceit. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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