1
as in metaphors
an elaborate or fanciful way of expressing something
the conceit that the crowd at the outdoor rock concert was a vast sea of people waving to the beat of the music
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in illusions
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
his dream of swimming in the Olympics is nothing more than a conceit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in imagines
to form a mental picture of
after a huge meal like that, I cannot conceit eating another thing for the rest of the day
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of conceits
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2026
One of Yellow Letters’s most interesting conceits is that German cities play Turkish ones throughout.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
There’s something about those ideas that are big, silly, cinematic, surreal conceits that drew me in.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 24 Nov. 2025
One of Weapons’ conceits is its chapter structure centering on particular characters, and sources say that Cregger actually had a chapter focused on Gladys and some of her backstory.
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 22 Aug. 2025
All the conceits of a true-crime film are there – the lead detective interviews, shaky images from police-cams, the salacious headlines, the nauseating crime scene photos, the TV news reports, teary interviews with friends and family.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2025
Noun
In those earlier pictures, metaphysical conceits became visual and dramatic gambits as the filmmakers set out to colonize the vast interior worlds of, respectively, the mind and the spirit.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2026
One of Yellow Letters’s most interesting conceits is that German cities play Turkish ones throughout.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
There’s something about those ideas that are big, silly, cinematic, surreal conceits that drew me in.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 24 Nov. 2025
One of Weapons’ conceits is its chapter structure centering on particular characters, and sources say that Cregger actually had a chapter focused on Gladys and some of her backstory.
—Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 22 Aug. 2025
All the conceits of a true-crime film are there – the lead detective interviews, shaky images from police-cams, the salacious headlines, the nauseating crime scene photos, the TV news reports, teary interviews with friends and family.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conceits
Noun
-
Threads become metaphors for relationships—fragile yet resilient, personal yet interconnected.—
Olga Garcia-Mayoral,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
-
His appetite for complexity was increasingly indulged as a means of branding cities and institutions, and his novel forms were deployed as blunt metaphors to absorb and obscure contradictions rather than negotiate them in material and spatial terms.—
Julian Rose,
Artforum,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Instead, Angine de Poitrine are more like Meshuggah or Dawn of Midi, establishing a meter and then creating rhythmic illusions using creative bursts of syncopation.—
Christopher R. Weingarten,
Pitchfork,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Their romance emerges alongside the dreamlike atmosphere of the mysterious circus, their illusions becoming a way to communicate with each other.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Weed imagines the home’s spirit as a 19th-century woman in a long dress—and not a particularly happy one.—
Katie Schultz,
Architectural Digest,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Given the remarkable radiation tolerance displayed by the molds discovered at Chernobyl, fungi might also provide radiation shielding — Maurer imagines growing thin layers of them inside the inflated buildings to shield the astronauts living within.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Such is the difference between playoff team with championship visions and play-in team with a potential off-ramp into the draft lottery.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance force him to confront dark corners of his past.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The shakeup is part of NASA's overhaul of its Artemis campaign as the space agency envisions launching more missions before and after a historic moon landing.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
-
In Kfar Giladi, Zeevi envisions distant hope.—
Tal Shalev,
CNN Money,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Attempts to resolve ecological responsibility through strict localism often risk sliding into cultural provincialism or nationalist enclosure—fantasies of purity that ignore how deeply entangled our lives already are.—
Manuela Moscoso,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Somehow, reality was even better than our fantasies.—
Lara Kramer,
Condé Nast Traveler,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Wang is now assistant professor of literary arts at Brown University, but still dreams of a life in Italy.—
Julia Buckley,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Claire meets Cherokee healer Adawehi, who dreams of Claire becoming a white raven with magical powers.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
More than masturbatory daydreams, Vladimir inspires our heroine to write with abandon, ignoring professional and personal obligations in service to her muse.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
5 Mar. 2026
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Below, some of the finest, high-quality ruffled bedding around the web for creating the frothy bedscape of your daydreams.—
Yelena Moroz Alpert,
Architectural Digest,
28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Conceits.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conceits. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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