conceit

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Something conceived in the mind

   Something conceived in the mind; an idea, a thought.

   • In laughing, there ever procedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous.
   • a man wise in his own conceit
   • It was after a night like this that I shocked the community with a queer conceit about the burial of the rich and celebrated Squire Brewster […]
2. 2

   The faculty of conceiving ideas

   The faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension.

   • a man of quick conceit
   • How 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. 3

   Quickness of apprehension

   Quickness of apprehension; active imagination; lively fancy.

   • His wit's as thick as Tewksbury mustard; there is no more conceit in him than is in a mallet.
4. ›+ 8 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Opinion, (neutral) judgment.

   2. 5

      Esteem, favourable opinion.

      • By him that me boughte, than quod Dysdayne, / I wonder sore he is in suche cenceyte.
      • [G]ive him thy thanks for putting her into conceit with the sex that thou hast given her so much reason to execrate.
   3. 6

      A novel or fanciful idea

      A novel or fanciful idea; a whim.

      • On his way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit.
      • Some to conceit alone their works confine, / And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line.
      • Tasso[…] is full of conceits […] which are not only below the dignity of heroic verse but contrary to its nature.
   4. 7

      An ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a…

      An ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device.

      • In the next and final stanza, Donne expands the conceit of world exploration to present us with a further distinction between the spirituality of the lovers and the “map reader” and “sea-discoverers.”
      • Jones and Palin wrote and starred in The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969) for LWT. Its conceit was to relate historical incidents as if TV had existed at the time.
   5. 8

      Overly high self-esteem

      Overly high self-esteem; vain pride; hubris.

      • Plum'd with conceit he calls aloud.
   6. 9

      Design

      Design; pattern.

      • And yet I know not how conceit may rob the treasury of life when life itself yields to the theft;
   7. 10

      To form an idea

      To form an idea; to think.

      • Those whose […] vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes.
   8. 11

      To conceive.

      • [T]his Medicine he conceits worse than the Disesase.
      • That owls and ravens are ominous appearers, and presignifying unlucky events, as Christians yet conceit, was also an augurial conception.

The neighborhood