conceit

Its defining achievement is ordered liberty: suspicion of ideological conceit, faith in common decency, respect for tradition and a preference for gradual change.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

That conceit ended up an unsubtle but no less effective metaphor for our new Gilded Age.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

But overall, it’s an inventive conceit for a scavenger hunt that prompts Felix and Marigold to re-examine their surroundings, recording the sounds of summer as they go.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Though framed by a fantastical conceit, “Dear Monica Lewinsky” is at its core a realist novel, influenced by the feminism of #MeToo and precise in its delineation of character and place.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

But the conceit of the film is that it feels like a documentary, even though it isn’t.

From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed

It’s one of the oldest conceits ever, thinking that vulgarity makes you look tough.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

“Gladiator II” and “Alien: Romulus” are Ridley Scott properties that heavily retread ground covered in the original conceits that inspired them.

From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2024

Awarding the show three stars, the Telegraph's Claire Allfree said the "unstable, performative nature of identity, and its analogous resonance for theatre - the ultimate con trick - are familiar conceits".

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2024

In 2019, she did do Lear on Broadway, in a reconceived production tricked out with an abundance of postmodern conceits that might have smothered a less assertive star.

From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2023

“But she is employing the literary conceits and techniques of a novel. And the meeting you speak of has already occurred—you have been reading it for the past quarter of an hour.”

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein