What does conceited mean in poetry

More Definitions for conceit. Nglish: Translation of conceit for Spanish Speakers. Britannica English: Translation of conceit for Arabic Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Essential Meaning of conceit. Full Definition of conceit Entry 1 of 2. Definition of conceit Entry 2 of 2. Synonyms for conceit Synonyms: Noun metaphor Synonyms: Verb conceive , conjure up , dream , envisage , envision , fancy , fantasize , fantasy , feature , ideate , image , imagine , picture , see , vision , visualize Visit the Thesaurus for More.

Examples of conceit in a Sentence Noun His conceit has earned him many enemies. Recent Examples on the Web: Noun There are way too many magnets, which as a whole car-swooping conceit are only cool about 47 percent of the time. For this reason, conceits are often surprising. He finds her weeping and says:. He compares Juliet to a boat in a storm. The comparison is an extended metaphor in which he compares her eyes to a sea, her tears to a storm, her sighs to the stormy winds, and her body to a boat in a storm.

The term conceit usually brings to mind certain examples from metaphysical poets of the 17th century. Romeo has just met Juliet and is smitten by her. Romeo : If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Romeo : O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. In other words, Romeo likens his hand to an unworthy visitor to a sacred shrine i. Juliet responds by saying Romeo is too harsh on his hand: by holding her hand in his, he is showing respectful devotion as is befitting at a sacred site.

Juliet plays it coy, responding by saying that lips are meant for prayer in such circumstances both saints and pilgrims pray to God. Romeo obliges.

It may not look like it, because two characters are speaking the lines in a play, but the fourteen lines of verse dialogue quoted above actually form a Shakespearean sonnet , as we can observe if we put the lines together:. If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.