conceit

American  

[kuhn-seet] / kənˈsit /

noun

• conceits
  plural

1. an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability, importance, wit, etc.

   Synonyms:

   complacency, egotism, vanity, self-esteem

   Antonyms:

   humility

2. something that is conceived in the mind; a thought; idea.

   He jotted down the conceits of his idle hours.

3. imagination; fancy.

4. a fancy; whim; fanciful notion.

5. an elaborate, fanciful metaphor, especially of a strained or far-fetched nature.

6. the use of such metaphors as a literary characteristic, especially in poetry.

7. a fancy, purely decorative article.

8. British Dialect.

   1. favorable opinion; esteem.

   2. personal opinion or estimation.

9. Obsolete. the faculty of conceiving; apprehension.

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verb (used with object)

1. to flatter (especially oneself ).

2. British Dialect. to take a fancy to; have a good opinion of.

3. Obsolete.

   1. to imagine.

   2. to conceive; apprehend.

idioms

1. out of conceit with, displeased or dissatisfied with.

conceit British  

/ kənˈsiːt /

noun

1. a high, often exaggerated, opinion of oneself or one's accomplishments; vanity

2. literary an elaborate image or far-fetched comparison, esp as used by the English Metaphysical poets

3. archaic

   1. a witty expression

   2. fancy; imagination

   3. an idea

4. obsolete a small ornament

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verb

1. dialect to like or be able to bear (something, such as food or drink)

2. obsolete to think or imagine

Synonym Usage

See pride.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• conceits
  plural

Etymology

Origin of conceit

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English conceyte, conceipt, derivative of conceive by analogy with deceive, deceit and receive, receipt; compare Anglo-French conceite; see concept

Explanation

If you’re always boasting and can’t stop talking about yourself, you have that character flaw known as conceit. Your friends — if you have any — may also complain about your arrogance, vanity, and egotism. A conceit can also be an artistic device — probably a little forced — like the plot of a movie built on the conceit of everything that happens being foretold in song. You might find an architectural conceit in a Baroque palace, where you think you’re looking down a long hallway lined with columns, but when you get closer you see that it's really a mural painted in perspective so that the columns only seem to disappear in the distance.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conceit conceits

But overall, it’s an inventive conceit for a scavenger hunt that prompts Felix and Marigold to re-examine their surroundings, recording the sounds of summer as they go.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

“From the beginning, the conceit was to summon all the types of experiences of Blackness in one place, the project being a vessel or container for all of that expression,” Halsey says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

Here, Tuason cleverly lifts a conceit from “The Ring,” where a cursed videotape gave the viewer seven days to live after popping it into the VCR.

From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2026

Advocates of administrative tribunals claim they’re more efficient than federal courts, but the Ross case belies this conceit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026

He was a good man, and there was no conceit in him.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

All of Mr. Horowitz’s conceits are present here: a murder mystery within the murder mystery, winking nods at the author’s real-life career as a novelist and screenwriter, and playful experimentation with the detective-story form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

He followed it with a succession of intensely theatrical divertissements, often revolving around unexpected intellectual conceits or bizarre juxtapositions and featuring brilliant dialogue, puns, repartee, double meanings and misunderstandings.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025

“Gladiator II” and “Alien: Romulus” are Ridley Scott properties that heavily retread ground covered in the original conceits that inspired them.

From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2024

So what might seem like improvements or expansions — elaborate group choreography, imaginative conceits — risk straying from the emotional core that makes flamenco flamenco.

From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2024

Historiographic conceits aside, Polybius was born in Arcadia, notorious throughout antiquity as an irredeemable backwater.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

Related Words

• arrogance