Dictionary.com defines “conceit” as:
noun
1. an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability, importance, wit, etc.
2. something that is conceived in the mind; a thought; idea: He jotted down the conceits of his idle hours.
3. imagination; fancy.
4. a fancy; whim; fanciful notion.
Four definitions. The first one is very bad, and is by far the most popular. The remaining three are actually positive and good. That’s why life is hard.
I wonder if this is a similar case to “literally”. “Literally”
started out meaning exactly, truthfully what it is in the technical sense. But
after a number of years during which many people misused the word and said
things like, “I was staning him for like, literally a million years low diff!”,
we now have a new, official definition of the word (see definition #4 below).
adverb
1. in the literal or strict sense.
2. in a literal manner; word for word.
3. actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy.
4. in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually.
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