Conceited means having an excessively high opinion of yourself, your abilities, or your importance. A conceited person constantly brags about their accomplishments and struggles to acknowledge when others do something well. They might interrupt conversations to talk about themselves or act as though their ideas are always the best ones.

Imagine a classmate who scores well on one math test and then spends the next week telling everyone how brilliant they are at math, dismissing other students' methods as inferior. That's conceit in action. Or picture someone who makes the soccer team and suddenly acts like they're too good to practice with their old friends.

The word conceited is closely related to vain and arrogant, but it specifically emphasizes someone's inflated self-image. A conceited person has moved beyond healthy confidence into unrealistic self-importance. They're so impressed with themselves that they become blind to their actual limitations and dismissive of others' abilities.

People sometimes confuse healthy confidence with conceit, but there's a clear difference. Confidence means believing in yourself while still respecting others and staying open to learning. Conceit means thinking you're better than you actually are and better than everyone else. When you achieve something real through hard work, you can feel genuinely proud without being conceited.