conceityadj.
/kənˈsiːti/, U.S. /kənˈsidi/, Scottish English /kənˈsitɪ/, /kɔnˈsitɪ/ Chiefly Scottish and U.S. Now rare.
Fanciful, flighty; ingenious, witty; full of conceits; (in later use) conceited, proud.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > [adjective]
quainta1250
conceitive1579
conceited1583
conceity1589
conceitful1594
wittya1616
sharply-conceived1630
smart1639
mercurial1647
spiritual1701
wittified1742
scintillant1764
witful1765
1589 in D. Masson Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1881) 1st Ser. IV. 427 I am knawne..not to be very intemperately rashe nor concety in my wechtiest effearis.
1606 W. Birnie Blame of Kirk-buriall vi. sig. B4v The conceaty resolution of Theodore.
a1658 J. Durham Pract. Expos. X. Commandements (1675) To Rdr. sig. d2 Over-costly, curious, vain, and conceaty dressing, and decking of the body.
?1719 A. Ramsay in A. Ramsay & W. Hamilton Familiar Epist. iii. 24 Gin ony sow'r mou'd girning Bucky Ca' me conceity keckling Chucky.
1797 Mrs. McDonald Evening Amusem. I. xxxii. 123 I hate conceity bodies.
1822 J. Galt Steam-boat xvi. 339 He's..a wee conceity of himsel.
1868 J. H. Stirling in N. Brit. Rev. 49 366 [Browning's] ‘In a Gondola’..is soft and boneless somehow..and, so to speak, conceity.
1873 W. Carleton Farm Ballads 66 She was quite conceity, and carried a heap o' style.
1921 Boston Daily Globe 15 Sept. 14/6 The poor conceity little beaver had never been so far from water in all his little life.
1934 L. Spence in Gallovidian Ann. 11 The guid-brither o' this king was a grit noble, and fu' conceity and jealous o' his lord.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1589