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conceit
[ kuhn-seet ]
noun
- an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability, importance, wit, etc.
Synonyms: complacency, egotism, vanity, self-esteem
Antonyms: humility
- something that is conceived in the mind; a thought; idea:
He jotted down the conceits of his idle hours.
- imagination; fancy.
- a fancy; whim; fanciful notion.
- an elaborate, fanciful metaphor, especially of a strained or far-fetched nature.
- the use of such metaphors as a literary characteristic, especially in poetry.
- a fancy, purely decorative article.
- British Dialect.
- favorable opinion; esteem.
- personal opinion or estimation.
- Obsolete. the faculty of conceiving; apprehension.
verb (used with object)
- to flatter (especially oneself ).
- British Dialect. to take a fancy to; have a good opinion of.
- Obsolete.
- to imagine.
- to conceive; apprehend.
conceit
/ kənˈsiːt /
noun
- a high, often exaggerated, opinion of oneself or one's accomplishments; vanity
- literary.an elaborate image or far-fetched comparison, esp as used by the English Metaphysical poets
- archaic.
- a witty expression
- fancy; imagination
- an idea
- obsolete.a small ornament
verb
- dialect.to like or be able to bear (something, such as food or drink)
- obsolete.to think or imagine
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of conceit1
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Idioms and Phrases
- out of conceit with, displeased or dissatisfied with.
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
Wolf concurs that the conceit of the show seems to have everyone but the sex worker in mind.
So the heaviness was not so much a literary conceit but something I wanted to talk about.
Because that conceit was straight/gay vs straight/straight, I could do a lot of overtly straight humor and it would be acceptable.
But Sex Box, with its ridiculous guinea pigs screwing conceit, will only augment our cultural hang-ups about sex.
And this is how we arrive at the lovely conceit of Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress.
Having seen no service, he owed his appointment largely to his conceit and good looks.
I am out of conceit with England just now; and would far rather have gone to the Antipodes.
It would argue too much literary conceit on my part were I anxious to restore it to the light of day.
It came to Lowell in a flash that Bill's arrogance sprang from something deeper than mere conceit or drunkenness.
He is made to talk like a man of the greatest vanity and conceit, and to throw contempt and scorn on everybody else.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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