conceit

Excessive personal pride

Conceit is an excessively high opinion of oneself—vanity or self-importance: His conceit was insufferable.

In literary criticism, a conceit is an elaborate or unusual metaphor, especially one that draws surprising comparisons: The poem's central conceit compares the lovers to a compass.

The two senses connect through the idea of something conceived in the mind—whether flattering self-regard or imaginative invention.

arrogance

hubris

Ruinous excessive confidence

egotismInflated sense of self-importance
smugnessExcessive pride in oneself
haughtinessDisdainful sense of superiority

superciliousness · pomposity · self-importance · vanity · narcissism · overconfidence · boastfulness · presumption · condescension · snobbery

literary

metaphor

Implied identity comparison

imageryVivid descriptive language
paradoxSeemingly absurd truth
wordplayVerbal wit techniques

trope · motif · analogy · symbolism · allegory · personification · hyperbole · oxymoron · antithesis · juxtaposition

ego

self-regard

One's opinion of oneself

self-imageOne's view of oneself
self-esteemOne's sense of worth
self-worthInternal sense of value

self-admiration · self-love · self-absorption · self-centeredness · egocentrism · solipsism · individualism · self-obsession · self-interest · amour-propre

artifice

pretense

Deceptive outward show

affectationArtificial behavior for effect
facadeDeceptive outward appearance
contrivanceClever invention or scheme

stratagem · scheme · ploy · ruse · deception · guile · subterfuge · machination · duplicity · craftiness

notion

idea

Mental formation

fancyElaborate or decorative
whimSudden arbitrary desire
notionImprecise mental impression

belief · opinion · imagination · thought · impression · fantasy · caprice · invention · fiction · vagary

conceit

hubris

metaphor

self-regard

pretense

idea

conceit

Opposites

Phrases

Categories

Family