fancy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun something many people believe that is false
    phantasy; fantasy; illusion.
    • they have the illusion that I am very wealthy
  2. noun a kind of imagination that was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination
  3. noun a predisposition to like something
    fondness; partiality.
    • he had a fondness for whiskey
  4. verb imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
    picture; visualize; envision; figure; visualise; image; project; see.
    • I can't see him on horseback!
    • I can see what will happen
    • I can see a risk in this strategy
  5. verb have a fancy or particular liking or desire for
    take to; go for.
    • She fancied a necklace that she had seen in the jeweler's window
  6. adjective not plain; decorative or ornamented
    • fancy handwriting
    • fancy clothes

WordNet

Fan"cy noun
Etymology
Contr. fr. fantasy, OF. fantasie, fantaisie, F. fantaisie, L. phantasia, fr. Gr. appearance, imagination, the power of perception and presentation in the mind, fr. to make visible, to place before one's mind, fr. to show; akin to , , light, Skr. bhato shine. Cf. Fantasy, Fantasia, Epiphany, Phantom.
Wordforms
plural Fancies
Definitions
  1. The faculty by which the mind forms an image or a representation of anything perceived before; the power of combining and modifying such objects into new pictures or images; the power of readily and happily creating and recalling such objects for the purpose of amusement, wit, or embellishment; imagination.
    In the soul Are many lesser faculties, that serve Reason as chief. Among these fancy next Her office holds. Milton.
  2. An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea; conceit.
    How now, my lord ! why do you keep alone, Of sorriest fancies your companoins making ? Shak.
  3. An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; caprice; whim; impression.
    I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children. Locke.
  4. Inclination; liking, formed by caprice rather than reason; as, to strike one's fancy; hence, the object of inclination or liking.
    To fit your fancies to your father's will. Shak.
  5. That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.
    London pride is a pretty fancy for borders. Mortimer.
  6. A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad. Obs. Shak.
    At a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy. De Quincey.
    Syn. -- Imagination; conceit; taste; humor; inclination; whim; liking. See Imagination.
Fan"cy intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Fancied present participle & verbal noun Fancying
Definitions
  1. To figure to one's self; to believe or imagine something without proof.
    If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know. Locke.
  2. To love. Obs. Shak.
Fan"cy transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To form a conception of; to portray in the mind; to imagine.
    He whom I fancy, but can ne'er express. Dryden.
  2. To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners. "We fancy not the cardinal." Shak.
  3. To believe without sufficient evidence; to imagine (something which is unreal).
    He fancied he was welcome, because those arounde him were his kinsmen. Thackeray.
Fan"cy adjective
Definitions
  1. Adapted to please the fancy or taste; ornamental; as, fancy goods.
  2. Extravagant; above real value.
    This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his [Frederick the Great's] father to pay fancy prices for giants. Macaulay.

Webster 1913