1
as in metaphor
an elaborate or fanciful way of expressing something
the conceit that the crowd at the outdoor rock concert was a vast sea of people waving to the beat of the music
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in illusion
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
his dream of swimming in the Olympics is nothing more than a conceit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in vanity
an often unjustified feeling of being pleased with oneself or with one's situation or achievements
even though her novels are enormously popular, the writer is more prone to humility than to conceit
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to imagine
to form a mental picture of
after a huge meal like that, I cannot conceit eating another thing for the rest of the day
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of conceit
Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
When window dressing takes away from that central conceit, what’s the point?
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 9 Dec. 2025
Many abilities returning from prior games, like Samus’s compact Morph Ball form or the grapple beam, are tweaked by the new psychic powers conceit.
—PC Magazine, 2 Dec. 2025
On the writing front, the screenplay organically makes the time gaps fluid and natural, a tricky conceit to pull off.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for conceit
Noun
The conceit is risky but pays off.
—Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
When window dressing takes away from that central conceit, what’s the point?
—Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 9 Dec. 2025
Many abilities returning from prior games, like Samus’s compact Morph Ball form or the grapple beam, are tweaked by the new psychic powers conceit.
—PC Magazine, 2 Dec. 2025
On the writing front, the screenplay organically makes the time gaps fluid and natural, a tricky conceit to pull off.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for conceit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conceit
Noun
-
This concept is brought to life by the characters’ perilous physical and psychological journey, constantly suspended between destruction and renewal, reality and metaphor.—
Robert Lang,
Deadline,
7 Jan. 2026
-
With relentless howling wind making up much of the soundtrack, The Turin Horse was a chilling, enigmatic stunner that played like a metaphor for the apocalypse.—
Tim Grierson,
Rolling Stone,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Still, there are some footwear styles and silhouettes that work better for women on the shorter side, helping give the illusion of a higher stature.—
Shelby Comroe,
InStyle,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Her sister, Kali, has the power to create illusions, so the Eleven that everyone witnessed in her final moments could have been fake, and the real Eleven could have slipped away without being detected.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Posing on top of an antique vanity and inside a wooden cabinet, Bieber cycled through a parade of sheer lace, see-through mesh, and strappy designs in shades of red, black, pink, and cream.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Store liquids—such as lotion, makeup, perfumes, and skincare—on a tray to protect your vanity table or bathroom cabinet.—
Abby Wolner,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
One of those techniques involves an empty chair placed in front of a client, encouraging them to imagine and speak to someone connected to unresolved emotions.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Jan. 2026
-
One way around this is to give the subject something else to imagine—another place, another conversation, a passing feeling—just long enough for the shutter, at one two-hundredth of a second, to catch something real.—
Dan Turello,
New Yorker,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Sadly, his college ball dreams didn’t come to fruition after the coach who called him up retired.—
Marina Watts,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Over the past seven years, Blake Lively brought her dream hair care line to life by redefining the beauty industry with a blend of passion, precision and purpose.—
Kanika Talwar,
Footwear News,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
His on-field poise and ego-free personality are a combination that will be an easy sell to an NFL locker room.—
Antonio Morales,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2026
-
The ego, the hardness, the … callousness of anything that might be on the heart or the mind had literally just melted away.—
Kelsie Hoffman,
CBS News,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In late 2020, Farr had a wildly vivid dream envisioning a black car driving through the Colombian mountains, en route to a monastery.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
11 Jan. 2026
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Wuthering Heights was always envisioned as a kind of fantastical fever dream—a contemporary take on a ’50s soundstage melodrama that gleefully mixes historical references with glitzy modernity.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
And, once again, fantasies of surgical strikes are yielding to messy realities.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
10 Jan. 2026
-
As that tension escalates, battles — between good and evil, fantasy and reality, collapse and triumph — ensue.—
Bob Gendron,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Conceit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conceit. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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