Conceit /(?)/

Con·ceit

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.
    — Prov. xxvi. 12.
  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.
    — Cotton.
  6. Design; pattern. [Obs.]

Phrases & Compounds

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.

Conceit

v. t.
  1. 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.
  1. To form an idea; to think. [Obs.]
    Those whose . . . vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes.