Word Frequency
fancy (ˈfænsɪ
)
Definitions
adjective
-cier, -ciest- 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
noun
(plural) -cies- 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 (sense 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
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See the fancy
verb
-cies, -cying, -cied tr- 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
exclamation
- Also: fancy that!. an exclamation of surprise or disbelief
Derived Forms
ˈfancily adverbˈfanciness noun
Word Origin
C15 fantsy, shortened from fantasie; see fantasySynonyms
View thesaurus entry = elaborate, decorated, decorative, extravagant, intricate, baroque, ornamented, ornamental, ornate, elegant, fanciful, embellished,
= wish for, want, desire, would like, hope for, dream of, relish, long for, crave, be attracted to, yearn for, thirst for, hanker after, have a yen for
Quotations including 'fanciest'
"Ever let the fancy roam,Pleasure never is at home"
"Tell me where is fancy bred,Or in the heart or in the head?"
Example Sentences Including 'fanciest'
As Paddy Kelly, the owner of the Prem Group, puts it, the fanciest telly in the world is only a box unless it's plugged into a network.Times, Sunday Times (2004)
But this time it would go out on the air live from the fanciest club New York had to offer, The Stork Club.Yul
GIRLS ' NIGHT OUT: Where: The fanciest restaurant you can think of.Australian News Misc (2005)
He has managed to build the fanciest bungalow in the village, and Susie keeps a perfect garden.NOTHING TO WEAR AND NOWHERE TO HIDE: A Collection of Short Stories
On the island, preparations for the storm were being made everywhere, from the fanciest hotels to the shabbiest shack.GALILEE (2001)
She is extravagant, too, showering money on the Democrats and the fanciest charitable functions in New York.Times, Sunday Times (2002)
Sometimes the latest technology, or fanciest solutions aren't the best.CBC (2004)
The word on the street was, he'd spent the whole Green war chest on Sudden Stop's fanciest weapons.A Plague of Angels
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