conceit
1 of 2noun
con·ceit kən-ˈsēt 
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 Owenconceit
2 of 2verb
conceited; conceiting; conceits
transitive verb
1
chiefly dialectal : imagine
2
dialectal British : to take a fancy to
3
obsolete : conceive, understand
Synonyms
Noun
- metaphor
Verb
- conceive
- conjure (up)
- dream
- envisage
- envision
- fancy
- fantasize
- fantasy
- feature
- ideate
- image
- imagine
- picture
- see
- vision
- visualize
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
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 Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 July 2022 Obviously traveling from city to city is the conceit of this particular trip. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2021 It’s all just a little too immaculately rendered to be satisfying, or even compelling beyond the initial conceit. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2022 Dunham’s conceit combines the realistic sleaze of Red Rocket and the gynophobic conceptual fantasy of Todd Haynes’s Safe. Armond White, National Review, 17 Aug. 2022 In 1990, Andrew Bergman directed The Freshman, a Matthew Broderick comedy whose chief conceit was casting Marlon Brando to play a Mob boss whom everyone in the movie could see looked exactly like, well, Vito Corleone. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2022 Renaissance channels the energy and the conceit of the club into a demonstration of self-love. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 2 Aug. 2022 The conceit invests the work of Hummon and co-book writer Charles Randolph-Wright — who also supplies excellent direction — with historical accuracy. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 2 Aug. 2022 The former works fine and Laird Mackintosh leans generously and self-effacingly into the conceit. Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 30 June 2022 See More
Noun
Also, each subplot is meant to evoke different film genres, which is a clever conceit, but the genres (prison breakout movie, stoner action comedy, '80s slasher horror, eg) don't always mesh particularly well. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 July 2022 Obviously traveling from city to city is the conceit of this particular trip. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2021 It’s all just a little too immaculately rendered to be satisfying, or even compelling beyond the initial conceit. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2022 Dunham’s conceit combines the realistic sleaze of Red Rocket and the gynophobic conceptual fantasy of Todd Haynes’s Safe. Armond White, National Review, 17 Aug. 2022 In 1990, Andrew Bergman directed The Freshman, a Matthew Broderick comedy whose chief conceit was casting Marlon Brando to play a Mob boss whom everyone in the movie could see looked exactly like, well, Vito Corleone. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2022 Renaissance channels the energy and the conceit of the club into a demonstration of self-love. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 2 Aug. 2022 The conceit invests the work of Hummon and co-book writer Charles Randolph-Wright — who also supplies excellent direction — with historical accuracy. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 2 Aug. 2022 The former works fine and Laird Mackintosh leans generously and self-effacingly into the conceit. Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 30 June 2022 See More 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
Phrases Containing conceit
Kids Definition
conceit
noun
con·ceit kən-ˈsēt
: too much pride in a person's own abilities or qualities : excessive self-esteem
conceits 1 of 2
noun
1
as in metaphors
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
- metaphors
- analogies
- devices
- circumlocutions
- figures of speech
- similes
- euphemisms
- dead metaphors
- code words
- mixed metaphors
- catachreses
- cranks
2
as in illusions
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
- illusions
- fantasies
- visions
- daydreams
- dreams
- delusions
- unrealities
- ideas
- phantasms
- fictions
- phantasies
- chimeras
- fancies
- hallucinations
- figments
- pipe dreams
- mirages
- nightmares
- nonentities
- fantasms
- fables
- concoctions
- castles in the air
- castles in Spain
- inventions
- fabrications
- visualizations
- utopias
- brainchildren
- ignes fatui
- will-o'-the-wisps
- cloudlands
- daymares
- cloud-cuckoo-lands
- Shangri-las
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- realities
- facts
- actualities
conceits
2 of 2verb
as in dreams
to form a mental picture of after a huge meal like that, I cannot conceit eating another thing for the rest of the day Synonyms & Similar Words
- dreams
- envisions
- pictures
- fantasies
- visions
- features
- fancies
- conceives
- images
- sees
- plans
- imagines
- fantasizes
- contemplates
- visualizes
- daydreams
- envisages
- muses
- ideates
- projects
- reflects
- ruminates
- conjures (up)
- ponders
- hallucinates
- invents
- manufactures
- reminisces
- prefigures
- concocts
- stargazes
- foresees
- meditates
- relives
- fabricates
- re-creates
- makes up
- sub-phases
- sub-post office
- sub-process
- sub-processes
- sub-product
- sub-products
- sub-project
- sub-projects
- sub-Pyrenean
- sub-rational
- sub-rosa
- sub-Saharan
- sub-scale
- sub-scales
- sub-science
- sub-sciences
- sub-sea
- sub-secretaries
- sub-secretary
- sub-sector
- sub-sectors
- sub-segment
- sub-segments
- sub-sentence
- sub-sentences