CONCEIT • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Conceit

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/kənsˈit/ Listen

noun

Conceit n.

1.

That which is conceived, imagined, or formed in the mind; idea; thought; image; conception. "In laughing, there ever procedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous." "A man wise in his own conceit."

2.

Faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension; as, a man of quick conceit. (Obs.) "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.

Quickness of apprehension; active imagination; lively fancy. "His wit's as thick as Tewksbury mustard; there's more conceit in him than is in a mallet."

4.

A fanciful, odd, or extravagant notion; a quant fancy; an unnatural or affected conception; a witty thought or turn of expression; a fanciful device; a whim; a quip. "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 glittering thoughts struck out at every line." "Tasso is full of conceits... which are not only below the dignity of heroic verse but contrary to its nature."

5.

An overweening idea of one's self; vanity. "Plumed with conceit he calls aloud."

6.

Design; pattern. (Obs.)

In conceit with, in accord with; agreeing or conforming.

Out of conceit with, not having a favorable opinion of; not pleased with; as, a man is out of conceit with his dress.

To put (one) out of conceit with, to make one indifferent to a thing, or in a degree displeased with it.

verb

Conceit v. t. To conceive; to imagine. (Archaic) "The strong, by conceiting themselves weak, are therebly rendered as inactive... as if they really were so." "One of two bad ways you must conceit me, Either a coward or a flatterer."

Conceit v. i. To form an idea; to think. (Obs.) "Those whose... vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes."

See images of 'Conceit'

Etymology of 'Conceit'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Conceit" Quotes from Famous Books

... the last point was more than eight hundred—good, better, best—best of all would be those 'deleecious antipode, w'ere he would so soon promener on his head twelve thousand mile away;' and at the conceit she would fall into ...

— Uncle Silas - A Tale of Bartram-Haugh • J.S. Le Fanu

... attempted in their pride to ascend to heaven by building the tower of Babel, and their scheme ended in the confusion and multiplication of tongues. The children of the Reformation endeavored in their conceit to lead men to heaven by the private interpretation of the Bible, and their efforts led to the confusion and the multiplication of religions. Let me give you one example out of a thousand. These words of the Gospel, ...

— The Faith of Our Fathers • James Cardinal Gibbons

... you're out of sight of the sea, and the natives are not very interesting. They only appear to be full of conceit about their town without the least reason for it. I should like to know if there is really any thing in Marseilles to warrant the faintest belief in ...

— Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks - Book Number Fifteen in the Jack Harkaway Series • Bracebridge Hemyng

... boy's juvenile conceit and self-assurance, Riddell rejoiced to find him grown enthusiastic about anything so harmless as cricket. Wyndham had been working hard the last week or so in a double sense—working hard not only at cricket, but in striving ...

— The Willoughby Captains • Talbot Baines Reed

... other, our host had refused or had been unable to drive the birds. One result was that we had tramped and tramped and tramped, getting only rare shots, and doing but little execution. Another result was, that the place was simply littered with lost tempers, and we sat down to lunch very much out of conceit with ourselves, our guns, our cartridges, the keepers, the dogs, and everything else. The pleasant array of plates and glasses, and the savoury odours of the meats mitigated, but did not dispel the ...

— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 103, October 29, 1892 • Various

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