conceive
Americanverb (used with object)
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to form (a notion, opinion, purpose, etc.).
He conceived the project while he was on vacation.
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to form a notion or idea of; imagine.
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to hold as an opinion; think; believe.
I can't conceive that it would be of any use.
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to experience or form (a feeling).
to conceive a great love for music.
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to express, as in words.
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to become pregnant with.
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to beget.
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to begin, originate, or found (something) in a particular way (usually used in the passive).
a new nation conceived in liberty.
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Archaic. to understand; comprehend.
verb (used without object)
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to form an idea; think (usually followed byof ).
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to become pregnant.
verb
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to have an idea (of); imagine; think
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(tr; takes a clause as object or an infinitive) to hold as an opinion; believe
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(tr) to develop or form, esp in the mind
she conceived a passion for music
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to become pregnant with (young)
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rare (tr) to express in words
Synonym Usage
See imagine.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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conceivesimple
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conceivessimple
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have conceivedperfect
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has conceivedperfect
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am conceivingprogressive
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are conceivingprogressive
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is conceivingprogressive
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have been conceivingperfect progressive
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has been conceivingperfect progressive
Past
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conceivedsimple
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had conceivedperfect
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was conceivingprogressive
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were conceivingprogressive
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had been conceivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of conceive
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English from Anglo-French, Old French conceivre, from Latin concipere “to take fully, take in,” equivalent to con- con- + -cipere, combining form of capere “to take”
Explanation
To conceive is to come up with an idea. If you conceive a plan for your little brother's birthday, you dream up the perfect party, complete with a magician, rented ponies, and a cake shaped like a rocket. Latin roots for conceive (by way of French) point to "take into" either "the womb" or "the mind." An idea is sometimes called "a seed" or "the seed of an idea," and conceive means to produce something from inside the mind — or to become pregnant. Another expression is "pregnant with ideas" or "pregnant with possibilities," and someone who can "conceive of a thousand ways" to solve a problem or design something is full of new ideas.
Vocabulary lists containing conceive
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)
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"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One of the key signs of pregnancy is a change to body temperature - which means trackers that can monitor body temperature are popular with those trying to conceive.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Olsen: How did you come to conceive of how you kind of wanted to depict the online world, how people text, whether they’re FaceTiming and things like that?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
She wanted to make sure chemotherapy wouldn’t jeopardize her ability to conceive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
If that is the case, along with the latest jobs numbers, it gets difficult “to even conceive of the Fed thinking seriously about cutting rates,” he says.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
But he was the most electric personality I have ever met, and I still can’t quite conceive him dead.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Clearly Ms. Footer conceives of Bradley as something of a tortured Romantic; what’s unclear—in fact, what is unknowable—is whether Bradley did himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Perhaps the big divide here isn’t about what one wants one’s family to look like, but in how one conceives of parenthood in the first place.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2025
Egypt, along with other Arab states, remains committed to the long-time international formula for peace, the two-state solution which conceives an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2025
That’s perhaps because Kaurismäki conceives these sturdy people to be wiser than most about how rare it is to come across someone with matching wounds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
One conceives that, like his own Raimundo, he has been invited to enter it, has taken his fill of its pleasures, and has found his mouth filled with ashes.
From Froth by Palacio Vald?s, Armando
Given he earned 14 victories over the previous two seasons, it is a drought few could have conceived when he triumphed at the American Express Open on 27 January 2026.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
I had my last baby at 41, naturally conceived.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
In the UK, people conceived using donated sperm, eggs, or embryos from registered donors after April 1 2005, can now request identifying information about their biological donor parent once they turn 18.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
In response, an idea has taken hold that Matisse all but gave up painting in order “to carve” with color, as he conceived of it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
He had been conceived and born during the difficult crossing of the mountains, before the founding of Macondo, and his parents gave thanks to heaven when they saw he had no animal features.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Brooklyn resident Jenna Edwards always assumed she and her husband would have children, but they had trouble conceiving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Chicago gave credit to Parazaider for conceiving of the band’s distinct instrumentation, and the work ethic that made them stars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
According to the NHS, around one in seven couples have difficulty conceiving.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026
But some symptoms are highly suggestive of PCOS, including irregular or missed periods, excessive hair growth on the face and body, acne, weight gain, and difficulty conceiving.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2025
Because he had no topographic map, however, he had no way of conceiving that salvation was so close at hand.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
