conceited, ppl. a.
(kənˈsiːtɪd)
[f. conceit n. and v. + -ed.]
I. Chiefly from the n.
† 1. Of a person: a. Having a conceit, conception, intelligence, wit, a mind (of such a kind). Obs.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. p. xxvi, Merie conceipted. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido iii, O dull conceited Dido! 1598 Barret Theor. Warres i. i. 6 Your thirde quicke conceipted man. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. clxxix. 752 Humane, rationall, and pleasantly conceited. |
† b. Having a good ‘conceit’: intelligent, ingenious, clever: said of persons and their works.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1371 Cloud-kissing Illion..Which the conceipted Painter drew so prowd. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho., Sorts of Soyle 33 Obseruations..such as I haue partely drawne from conceipted wits. |
† c. Clever, witty, amusing: said of persons and their words or writings. Obs.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iii. ii, You are conceited, Sir. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 403 A few conceited merry and laughing Epitaphes. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iii. (1651) 259 The Egyptians..are commended to be..a conceited merry Nation. 1649 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII, an. 1534 The pleasure he had in his conceited and merry language. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 365 Conceited or witty, lepidus. |
2. Having an opinion, opinioned, of opinion; esp. having an opinion of such a kind: -minded, -affected, -disposed. (Cf. conceit v. 4.) Now dial.
| 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1552/2 Wherewith he could not but be pleasantlie conceipted. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. i. (1628) 6 The first language..whereof diuers haue bin diuersely conceited. 1649 Selden Laws Eng. i. lxiii. (1739) 128 The people [were] well-conceited of the King's aims. 1662 H. Stubbe Ind. Nectar. ii. 10 Very unpleasant to taste, if they be not very well conceited thereof. 1664 Evelyn Pomona (1729) 96 They are strongly conceited, that this addition..doth..meliorate their cider. a 1677 Barrow Serm. (1683) II. ii. 27 To be well conceited, and well affected toward his Maker. 1877 Peacock N.W. Lincolnsh. Gloss., ‘I'm consated he'll kill his sen' wi' drink’. |
† b. Possessed with a good opinion of; = well-conceited in prec. Obs.
| 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 34 Of our Chirurgians they were so conceited that they beleeued any Plaister would heale any hurt. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 38 So much conceited of a Novelty. 1683 tr. Erasmus' Moriae Enc. 45 Be yourself thoroughly conceited of your deserts. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. iii. 245 This proud nation fondly conceited of its antiquity. |
† c. Well disposed, favourably minded, to. Obs.
| 1618 Latham 2nd Bk. Falconry (1633) 14 Many men..will hardly be perswaded to be thereto conceited. |
3. Having an overweening opinion of oneself, or one's own qualities, etc.; vain. Orig. self-conceited. (The principal existing sense.)
| [1597 Thynne in Animadv. (1865) Introd. 99 The selfe conceyted Mr. Savile, provoste of Eatone. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) II. lxix. 240 Assuming the air of a self-conceited dupe.] 1608–11 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows Wks. 1837 VIII. 27 A conceited man must be a foole, for that over⁓weening opinion he hath of himselfe, excludes all opportunity of purchasing knowledge. 1707 Hearne Collect. 5 May II. 11 He is one of the conceitedest men living. 1710 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. lxvii. 111 A talking, impertinent, vain, and conceited creature. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Clubs Wks. (Bohn) III. 95 One of those conceited prigs who value nature only as it feeds..them. 1872 Darwin Emotions xiii. 331 The conceited are rarely shy; for they value themselves much too highly to expect depreciation. |
b. Const. of († in) oneself, one's own qualities.
| 1618 E. Elton Expos. Romans vii. (1622) 190 They are highly conceited of themselues. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) III. 81 Conceited of his own talents. 1736 Butler Anal. i. vi. 157 Highly conceited in his superior knowledge. 1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. i. iv. 203 The less a man knows, the more conceited he is of his proficiency. |
4. Fanciful, fantastical, whimsical. Now only dial. = Full of notions, fastidious.
| 1609 Shakes. (title), Troylus and Cresseid..with the conceited wooing of Pandarus Prince of Licia. 1649 Milton Eikon. Pref. (1851) 332 The conceited portraiture before his Book..sett there to catch fools. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 365 Conceited or fantastical, ineptus. 1699 Bentley Phal. 263 'Tis a conceited word of the Poet's making. 1855 Whitby Gloss., A consated body, a person given to foolish or nervous notions. 1864 Yorksh. dial., Kirkby (from correspt.), She was always very conceited over her food. The cows are that conceited they will not drink after the others. |
† b. Fancifully dressed or attired. Obs.
| c 1575 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden Soc.) 98 Delicate in speeche, qweynte in araye, conceitid in all poyntes. 1595 S. Edwardes in Shaks. Cent. Praise 17 Stately troupes rich conceited. |
II. From the v.
5. Conceived, devised. arch.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. (1641) 3/1 Some fantastick fore-conceited Plot. 1884 Symonds Shaks. Predecess. xiii. 523 Some of the pictures in this play are daintily conceited. |
† b. Imagined, fancied; imaginary. Obs.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry ii. iv. (1660) 56 A portion thereof, distinguished..only by a conceited line of partition, never heretofore heard of. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 220 His conceited Building of Stone-Heng by the Danes. 1667 J. Flavel Saint Indeed (1754) 58 A guilty conscience is more terrified with conceited dangers, than a pure conscience is with real ones. 1703 Quick Dec. Wife's Sister 27 Imaginary and conceited Expedients. |
† 6. Ingeniously devised; ingenious. Obs.
| 1594 Plat Jewel-ho. Title, Diuerse new and conceited Experiments. Ibid. Div. New Exper. 5 In my conceyted booke of gardening. |
7. Fancifully made; ‘fancy’. Obs.
| 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. ii. (1668) 8 Banqueting fruit and conceited dishes. 1644 Evelyn Diary (1827) I. 170 A conceyted chayre to sleep in with the legs stretcht out. 1682 Wheeler Journ. Greece i. 74 A conceited Chariot, or, to tell the truth, a Cart. |