Conceit

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːt

Alternative forms

• conceipt obsolete

Origin

Apparently formed from conceive, by analogy with deceive/deceit, receive/receipt etc.

Full definition of conceit

Noun

1. (obsolete) Something conceived in the mind; an idea, a thought. 14th–18th c.
• Francis BaconIn laughing, there ever procedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous.
• Bible, Proverbs xxvi. 12a man wise in his own conceit
2. The faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension.a man of quick conceit
• Sir Philip SidneyHow often, alas! did her eyes say unto me that they loved! and yet I, not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them.
3. Quickness of apprehension; active imagination; lively fancy.
• ShakespeareHis wit's as thick as Tewksbury mustard; there is no more conceit in him than is in a mallet.
4. (obsolete) Opinion, (neutral) judgment. 14th–18th c.
5. (now rare, dialectal) Esteem, favourable opinion. from 15th c.
• 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:By him that me boughte, than quod Dysdayne,
  I wonder sore he is in suche cenceyte.
6. (countable) A novel or fanciful idea; a whim. from 16th c.
• L'EstrangeOn his way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit.
• Alexander PopeSome to conceit alone their works confine,
  And glittering thoughts struck out at every line.
• DrydenTasso is full of conceits ... which are not only below the dignity of heroic verse but contrary to its nature.
7. (countable, rhetoric, literature) An ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device. from 16th c.
8. (uncountable) Overly high self-esteem; vain pride; hubris. from 17th c.
• CottonPlumed with conceit he calls aloud.
9. Design; pattern.

Derived terms

• conceited
• conceitedly
• conceitedness
• self-conceit

Verb

1. (obsolete) To form an idea; to think.
• unknown date, MiltonThose whose ... vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes.
2. (obsolete, transitive) To conceive.
• SouthThe strong, by conceiting themselves weak, are therebly rendered as inactive ... as if they really were so.
• ShakespeareOne of two bad ways you must conceit me,
  Either a coward or a flatterer.