Synonyms for conceive
Most common
Definitions
- v. 1
To have a child; to become pregnant (with).
Assisted procreation can help those trying to conceive.
- v. 2
To develop; to form in the mind; to imagine.
Related words
- Word family
- conceivability conceivable conceiver concept conception
Forms
- Past participle
- conceived
e.g. conceived → believed, invented, comprehended, imagined…
Choose the right word
That which we apprehend we catch, as with the hand; that which we conceive we are able to analyze and recompose in our mind; that which we comprehend, we, as it were, grasp around, take together, seize, embrace wholly within the mind.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- imagine We are never as happy or as unhappy as we imagine.
- comprehend This theory is too difficult for me to comprehend.
- invent If God did not exist, we would have to invent him.
- devise He tried to devise a plan for getting rid of termites.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| conceive | steady | |
| imagine | rising | |
| comprehend | rising | |
| invent | rising | |
| devise | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- see1
- 4 letters
- form1, deem1, ween
- 5 letters
- think1, fancy2, forme, opine2
- 6 letters
- design2, reckon2, invent2, devise2
- 7 letters
- believe2, imagine3, realize3, suppose2, realise3, presume2, surmise2, gestate2
- 8 letters
- consider3, perceive2
- 9 letters
- apprehend3
- 10 letters
- understand3, comprehend3
- 13 letters
- conceptualize4, conceptualise
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (fancy2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- concevoir
- Italiano
- concepire
- Español
- concebir
- Deutsch
- konzipieren