conceit

Definitions

1. 1.2. 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. Sir P. Sidney.
2. 2.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. Shak.
3. 3.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. L'Estrange. Some to conceit alone their works confine, And glittering thoughts struck out at every line. Pope. Tasso is full of conceits . . . which are not only below the dignity of heroic verse but contrary to its nature. Dryden.
4. 4.An overweening idea of one's self; vanity. Plumed with conceit he calls aloud. Cotton.
5. 5.Design; pattern. [Obs.] Shak. 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 conceit with, to make one indifferent to a thing, or in a degree displeased with it.
6. 6.To conceive; to imagine. [Archaic] The strong, by conceiting themselves weak, are therebly rendered as inactive . . . as if they really were so. South. One of two bad ways you must conceit me, Either a coward or a flatterer. Shak.
7. 7.To form an idea; to think. [Obs.] Those whose . . . vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes. Milton.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "conceit" mean?
• What is another word for "conceit"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is conceit.

• What is 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. Shak called?
• What is an overweening idea of one's self; vanity. Plumed with conceit he calls aloud. Cotton called?
• What is to form an idea; to think. [Obs.] Those whose . . . vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes. Milton called?