An elaborate metaphor, often strained or far-fetched, in which the subject is compared with a simpler analogue usually chosen from nature or a familiar context An excellent example of a conceit is Sir Thomas Wyatt's "My Galley," an adaptation of Petrarch's Sonnet 159 (See also Euphuism, Gongorism, Marinism, Melic Verse, Metaphysical)
A fanciful poetic image or metaphor that likens one thing to something else that is seemingly very different An example of a conceit can be found in Shakespeare's sonnet Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? and in Emily Dickinson's poem There is no frigate like a book
Faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension; as, a man of quick conceit
A fanciful, odd, or extravagant notion; a quant fancy; an unnatural or affected conception; a witty thought or turn of expression; a fanciful device; a whim; a quip
a complicated intellectual metaphor Petrarchan conceits drew on conventional sensory imagery popularized by the Italian poet Petrarch (1304-74) Metaphysical conceits were characterized by esoteric, abstract associations and surprising effects John Donne and other so-called metaphysical poets used conceits in ways that fused the sensory and the abstract Examples are John Donne's use of the compass in "The Ecstasy" and of alchemy in "A Nocturnal upon St Lucy's Day "