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
Richard Kuipers, Variety, 3 Nov. 2024
That slowly lowering spread is actually a pretty good metaphor for what happens when a novel science-fiction conceit is, well, spread thin.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2024
Rudolph finally came face-to-face with the real-life Harris in this week’s cold open, whose speaking-to-the-mirror conceit was similar to a recent Jennifer Coolidge sketch.
—Omar L. Gallaga, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
When WandaVision dropped, the first three episodes are so much about the conceit.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 18 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for conceit 
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Noun
Popular on Variety The bold conceit works right from the outset.
—Richard Kuipers, Variety, 3 Nov. 2024
That slowly lowering spread is actually a pretty good metaphor for what happens when a novel science-fiction conceit is, well, spread thin.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2024
Rudolph finally came face-to-face with the real-life Harris in this week’s cold open, whose speaking-to-the-mirror conceit was similar to a recent Jennifer Coolidge sketch.
—Omar L. Gallaga, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024
When WandaVision dropped, the first three episodes are so much about the conceit.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 18 Oct. 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 22 Nov. 2024.
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