fancy
ornamental; decorative; not plain: a cake with a fancy icing.
tending or intending to impress: a fancy degree in geophysics;fancy four-syllable words.
complicated or difficult to perform or execute: a couple doing some fancy footwork on the dance floor.
made, designed, grown, adapted, etc., to please the taste or fancy; of superfine quality or exceptional appeal: fancy goods; fancy fruits.
bred to develop points of beauty or excellence, as an animal.
much too costly; exorbitant or extravagant: a consultant who charges fancy fees.
imagination or fantasy, especially as exercised in a capricious manner.
the artistic ability of creating unreal or whimsical imagery, decorative detail, etc., as in poetry or drawing.
a mental image or conception: He had happy fancies of being a famous actor.
an idea or opinion with little foundation; illusion: Her belief that she can sing is a mere fancy.
capricious preference; inclination; a liking: to take a fancy to walking barefoot in the streets.
critical judgment; taste.
the breeding of animals to develop points of beauty or excellence.
the fancy, Archaic. people deeply interested in a sport, art, etc.
Obsolete. sexual love.
to form a conception of; picture to oneself: Fancy living with that egotist all your life!
to believe without being absolutely sure or certain: I fancy you are my new neighbor.
to take a liking to; like: I really fancy the spotted one in that litter.
to want or desire: I fancy another piece of cake.
to breed to develop a special type of animal.
Also fancy that . (used as an exclamation of mild surprise): They invited you, too? Fancy!
fancy up, to make superficially showy by way of improvement: an old car fancied up with a bright new paint job.
Origin of fancy
1synonym study For fancy
word story For fancy
The original meaning of fancy, “individual preference or liking, arbitrary inclination,” as in “to take a fancy to someone,” was only one of several meanings of Middle English fantasie, a technical word in the psychology of scholasticism (the system of theological and philosophical teaching and disputation predominant in the Middle Ages, based chiefly upon the authority of the Bible, of the church fathers, and of Aristotle and his pagan, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish commentators).
The adjective fancy, meaning “fine, ornamental,” did not appear until 1753; it developed from attributive use of the noun in the sense “designed to please the taste or fancy.”
Other words for fancy
Other words from fancy
- fan·ci·ness, noun
- un·fan·cy, adjective
Words Nearby fancy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use fancy in a sentence
We want to have the fancy, nice things but often discover that having the fancy, nice things usually means someone has to pay.
To make a deepfake, you don’t need a fancy computer or even a ton of knowledge about software.
Microsoft’s New Deepfake Detector Puts Reality to the Test | Vanessa Bates Ramirez | September 4, 2020 | Singularity HubIt covers the review of all documents first by the lender, then separately by the borrower’s “settlement agent,” a fancy term for his or her lawyer.
First he took energy trading and the NYSE electronic. Now Jeff Sprecher of ICE shares his plans to digitize your mortgage | Shawn Tully | September 2, 2020 | FortuneFiguring this all out takes some fancy math, but it’s something an electronic calculator can easily manage.
Here’s the summer science you might have missed | Janet Raloff | September 1, 2020 | Science News For StudentsPortable bathroom options, which range from simple bag setups for fast and light backpacking to fancy full-flush contraptions for long-term campground stays, can help.
The Plaza Hotel cooked a fancy-pants latke with red wine braised oxtail, horseradish sunchoke cream, and crispy kale.
They're also proof that no matter how fancy you are, you can't escape the urge to watch two girls make out.
High-End Pervs Film Benedict Cumberbatch and Reese Witherspoon Sucking Face | Amy Zimmerman | December 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo get the product from manufacturer to arm, the product is lyophilized (a fancy word for freeze dried).
Powdered Measles Vaccine Could Be Huge for Developing World | Kent Sepkowitz | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis fancy spice pack pairs with four different spirits—vodka, tequila, aquavit, and gin—to ensure the perfect morning pick-me-up.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Don Draper in Your Life | Allison McNearney | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI fancy Holmes would have destroyed those theories with nothing more than his intuition.
A fancy came into my head that I would entertain the king and queen with an English tune upon this instrument.
Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan SwiftShe fancied there was a sympathy of thought and taste between them, in which fancy she was mistaken.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinOne time my fancy soared on high, to see what discoveries I could make in those clearer regions.
fancy that enormous shell dropping suddenly out of the blue on to a ship's deck swarming with troops!
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonIn the old days every great man kept a toad-eater; sometimes his functions were highly paid—Wolff's are, I fancy.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James Wills
British Dictionary definitions for fancy
/ (ˈfænsɪ) /
not plain; ornamented or decorative: a fancy cake; fancy clothes
requiring skill to perform; intricate: a fancy dance routine
arising in the imagination; capricious or illusory
(often used ironically) superior in quality or impressive: a fancy course in business administration
higher than expected: fancy prices
(of a domestic animal) bred for particular qualities
a sudden capricious idea; whim
a sudden or irrational liking for a person or thing
the power to conceive and represent decorative and novel imagery, esp in poetry. Fancy was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than imagination: See imagination (def. 4)
an idea or thing produced by this
a mental image
taste or judgment, as in art of dress
Also called: fantasy, fantasia music a composition for solo lute, keyboard, etc, current during the 16th and 17th centuries
the fancy archaic those who follow a particular sport, esp prize fighting
to picture in the imagination
to suppose; imagine: I fancy it will rain
(often used with a negative) to like: I don't fancy your chances!
(reflexive) to have a high or ill-founded opinion of oneself: he fancied himself as a doctor
informal to have a wish for; desire: she fancied some chocolate
British informal to be physically attracted to (another person)
to breed (animals) for particular characteristics
Also: fancy that! an exclamation of surprise or disbelief
Origin of fancy
1Derived forms of fancy
- fancily, adverb
- fanciness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with fancy
see flight of fancy; footloose and fancy-free; take a fancy to; tickle one's fancy;.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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