Definition of conceit

Email this page to a friend

< concede

conceited >

con·ceit    (kn-st) KEY 

NOUN:

1. A favorable and especially unduly high opinion of one's own abilities or worth.
2. An ingenious or witty turn of phrase or thought.
3. 1. A fanciful poetic image, especially an elaborate or exaggerated comparison.
   2. A poem or passage consisting of such an image.
4. 1. The result of intellectual activity; a thought or an opinion.
   2. A fanciful thought or idea.
5. 1. A fancy article; a knickknack.
   2. An extravagant, fanciful, and elaborate construction or structure: "An eccentric addition to the lobby is a life-size wooden horse, a 19th century conceit" (Mimi Sheraton).

TRANSITIVE VERB:
con·ceit·ed, con·ceit·ing, con·ceits

1. Chiefly British To take a fancy to.
2. Obsolete To understand; conceive.

---

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, mind, conception, from Anglo-Norman conceite, from Late Latin conceptus ; see concept

SYNONYMS:
conceit, egoism, egotism, narcissism, vanity

These nouns denote excessive high regard for oneself: boasting that reveals conceit; imperturbable egoism; arrogance and egotism that were obvious from her actions; narcissism that shut out everyone else; wounded his vanity by looking in the mirror.
Antonym: humility