take a fancy to

Idioms

Also,. Be attracted to someone or something, as in They took a fancy to spicy foods after their Mexican vacation, or I'm hoping he'll take a liking to the water, now that we have a cottage on a lake, or We think Bill's taken a shine to Betsy. The first term was first recorded in 1541, the first variant in 1570, and the last, a colloquialism, in 1850.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A consortium partly led by the private equity arm of Standard Chartered PLC has invested $207 million in China's Dianrong.com, the peer-to-peer online lender said on Thursday, the latest international investor to take a fancy to the firm.

From Reuters

"And I take a fancy to that black mare," added Drake.

From Project Gutenberg

I have to leave you, and some of the boys may take a fancy to hang you, after all.

From Project Gutenberg

It is, by no means, uncommon, especially in country places, for groups of working men to obstruct the pathway upon which they take a fancy to lounge, without any definite object, as far as appears, but that of making rude remarks upon passers-by.

From Project Gutenberg

However, I have no reason to fear that those who do not know me will take a fancy to misrepresent my thought; and I think that those who are acquainted with me know that I am not accustomed to swing a censer in any one's honor.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023