conceit

«conceit» in Mova's school dictionary: Thinking far too well of yourself; being too proud of how… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (conceit — uncountable in sense 1; a conceit, conceits in sense 2)

meaning for a pupil

1) Thinking far too well of yourself; being too proud of how clever, good-looking or important you are. tree →

2) (in poetry, formal) a clever, surprising comparison or idea. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in stories and character studies to describe a vain, boastful person. It is the noun for «conceited». In The Wind in the Willows Toad is full of conceit: he boasts and sings songs about how wonderful he is. In lessons about values, conceit is the opposite of humility (being humble).

examples

• Toad's conceit grew with every song he sang about himself. tree →
• Her conceit made her hard to like. tree →
• He was clever, but without any conceit. tree →
• The hare's conceit made him lose the race. tree →
• «I'm the best,» he said, full of conceit. tree →
• The story warns against pride and conceit. tree →
• The poet used a clever conceit, comparing love to a compass. tree →
• The smaller the mind the greater the conceit. tree →

note

Uncountable when it means pride: no «a» and no plural. Adjective: conceited (a conceited boy). Different from «concept» (an idea) and «deceit» (lying). Spelling rule: i before e except after c — conceit.

In the corpora

• Conceited = thinks too much of himself; boastful = always showing off about what he has or does.
• The book calls it «perhaps the most conceited song that any animal ever composed».
• The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «conceit» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.