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 Owen
conceited; conceiting; conceits
1
chiefly dialectal
: imagine
2
dialectal British
: to take a fancy to
3
obsolete
: conceive, understand
Synonyms
Examples of conceit in a Sentence
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
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024
The show has one central conceit: In each episode, a cast member is selected by the show’s unseen producers to run the Green Room’s beachside coffee truck — and that cast member picks another participant to work alongside him for the day.
—Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Dec. 2024
Scott’s perfunctory approach fits screenwriter David Scarpa’s pragmatic conceit to make this son-of-Gladiator at least relevant to the social moment.
—Armond White, National Review, 6 Dec. 2024
The classic examples are modernist masterpieces like Ulysses, in which James Joyce dilates a day to 732 pages and switches stylistic conceits with each chapter, and Mrs. Dalloway, rooted in the interiority of Virginia Woolf’s protagonist.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 2 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for conceit 
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Noun
Parker Finn is making a name for himself as someone who can craft inventive and viscerally frightening set pieces, elevating these films beyond their (admittedly silly) conceits.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024
The show has one central conceit: In each episode, a cast member is selected by the show’s unseen producers to run the Green Room’s beachside coffee truck — and that cast member picks another participant to work alongside him for the day.
—Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Dec. 2024
Scott’s perfunctory approach fits screenwriter David Scarpa’s pragmatic conceit to make this son-of-Gladiator at least relevant to the social moment.
—Armond White, National Review, 6 Dec. 2024
The classic examples are modernist masterpieces like Ulysses, in which James Joyce dilates a day to 732 pages and switches stylistic conceits with each chapter, and Mrs. Dalloway, rooted in the interiority of Virginia Woolf’s protagonist.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 2 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for conceit
Dictionary Entries Near conceit
Cite this Entry
“Conceit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceit. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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