Conceit refers to something conceived in the mind; an idea, a thought. It commonly describes the faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension, quickness of apprehension; active imagination; lively fancy, and opinion, (neutral) judgment, which gives the term a broader and more practical sense than a single short definition would suggest. Depending on context, it can also point to esteem, favourable opinion, a novel or fanciful idea; a whim, and an ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device, so the category can cover literal uses, related ideas, and more figurative extensions of the same core meaning. Taken together, these meanings present Conceit as a flexible theme rather than a narrowly technical label, covering the central idea people usually mean when they use the word while still leaving room for closely related senses that appear in real language. Additional shades of meaning include overly high self-esteem; vain pride; hubris, design; pattern, to form an idea; to think, and to conceive, which reinforce how the category can stretch across adjacent but still recognizable uses of the same term. Conceit therefore works well as a quotation category because it can hold direct statements about the subject, figurative uses that borrow its meaning, and broader reflections that stay anchored to the same central idea.
