Pronunciations
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/ˈfæn.si/
Noun
The imagination.
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[…] But know that in the soul / Are many lesser faculties, that serve / Reason as chief; among these Fancy next / Her office holds […]
In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish’d dove; / In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
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Rustic females who habitually chew even pitch or spruce-gum are rendered thereby so repulsive that the fancy refuses to pursue the horror farther and imagine it tobacco […]
[I]n ten minutes more the sun was up, and blazing so fiercely, that we were glad to cool ourselves in fancy, by talking over salmon-fishings in Scotland and New Brunswick, and wadings in icy streams beneath the black pine-woods.
For a time she could not soothe nor convince him that it was fancy.
An image or representation of anything formed in the mind.
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How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, / Of sorriest fancies your companions making, / Using those thoughts which should indeed have died / With them they think on?
Her timbers were olden dreams dreamed long ago, and poets’ fancies made her tall, straight masts, and her rigging was wrought out of the people’s hopes.
An opinion or notion formed without much reflection.
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VVhen you have vvell vievved the Scenes and Deviliſh ſhapes of this Practical Metamorphoſis, and ſcan'd them in your ſerious thoughts, you vvill vvonder at their audacious phant'ſies, vvho ſeem to hold Specifical deformities, or that any part can ſeeme unhandſome in their Eyes, vvhich hath appeared good and beautiful unto their Maker: […]
I have always had a Fancy, that Learning might be made a Play and Recreation to Children […]
I dare say I am merely a foolish woman with a young girl's fancies.
A whim.
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I had a fancy to learn to play the flute.
Love or amorous attachment.
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And they’ve taken a fancy to me, Aunt said. Kitto and the others. That means they like me.
Liking.
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He took a fancy to the goods in the window.
The object of inclination or liking.
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For you, fair Hermia, look you arm yourself / To fit your fancies to your father’s will;
Any sport or hobby pursued by a group.
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Trainspotting is the fancy of a special lot.
the cat fancy
The enthusiasts of such a pursuit.
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He fell out of favor with the boxing fancy after the incident.
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[…] at a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the Fancy, on a copy occurring, not one of the company but ourself knew what the mystical title-page meant.
A diamond with a distinctive colour.
That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.
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18th century, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving Land, cited in Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755, London-pride is a pretty fancy, and does well for borders.
A bite-sized sponge cake, with a layer of cream, covered in icing.
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a French fancy; a fondant fancy; cream fancies
A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad.
Usage- Obsolete
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[He] ſung thoſe tunes to the ouer-ſchutcht huſwiues, that he heard the Car-men whiſtle, and ſware they were his fancies or his good-nights, […]
In the game of jacks, a style of play involving additional actions (contrasted with plainsies).
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When you have mastered plainsies, the regular jack game, and have learned all the rules, you will be ready to use this part of the book. A fancy is a variation of plainsies which usually requires more skill than plainsies does.
When you get good at jacks, try adding a fancy. A fancy is an extra round at the end of a game. It makes the game a little harder. Jack Be Nimble, Around the World, or Black Widow are some fancies.
A colored neckerchief worn at prizefights to show support for a contender.
Usage- In compounds
- Obsolete
- Slang
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the yellow fancy; the cream fancy; the blood-red fancy
Adjective
Decorative, or featuring decorations, especially intricate or diverse ones.
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This is a fancy shawl.
Of a superior grade.
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This box contains bottles of the fancy grade of jelly.
Executed with skill.
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He initiated the game-winning play with a fancy deked saucer pass to the winger.
It took some fancy footwork to make it happen.
Unnecessarily complicated.
Usage- Colloquial
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I'm not keen on him and his fancy ideas.
Extravagant; above real value.
Usage- Obsolete
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This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his [Frederick the Great's] father to pay fancy prices for giants.
Adverb
In a fancy manner; fancily.
Usage- nonstandard
- not-comparable
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I igonored it, hurdling her navel, riding her torso and taking both her breasts in my hands and mashing them none too fancy.
Verb
To appreciate without jealousy or greed.
Usage- Formal
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I fancy your new car, but I like my old one just fine.
Would like; have a desire for.
Usage- UK usage
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I fancy a burger tonight for dinner.
Do you fancy going to town this weekend?
To be sexually, aesthetically or romantically attracted to.
Usage- UK usage
- Informal
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I fancy that girl over there.
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How can you fancie one that lookes so fierce, / Onely diſpoſed to martiall Stratagems? / UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms / UUil tell how many thouſand men he ſlew.
“Hanna’s different,” I said. ”Oh yes, isn’t she?” she said scornfully. “Because you fancy her. Well, you’re not likely to impress her talking that way.
To imagine, suppose.
Usage- Dated
- in a set phrase
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[dated] I fancy you'll want something to drink after your long journey.
I fancy this is an error.
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Fancy meeting you here!
Fancy that! I saw Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy kissing in the garden.
You won't get the gig just because you fancy yourself a musician.
If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know.
Quiet and dark, beside him stood the Phantom, with its outstretched hand. When he roused himself from his thoughtful quest, he fancied from the turn of the hand, and its situation in reference to himself, that the Unseen Eyes were looking at him keenly. It made him shudder, and feel very cold.
He fancied he was welcome, because those around him were his kinsmen.
“Fancy a French waiter at a club,” said his friend. The young Englishman started a little, as if he could not fancy it.
I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.
Appleby […] rose from his seat when Morales came in. He shook hands urbanely, unbuckled his sword, and laid his kepi on the table, and then sat down with an expression of concern in his olive face which Appleby fancied was assumed.
Future prosperity is never guaranteed. [Bernie] Sanders fancies himself a revolutionary, but he's behaving like a reactionary - throwing sand into the gears of progress.
To form a conception of; to portray in the mind.
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he whom I fancy, but can ne'er express
It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the lockfast places had been broken open in quest of the chart.
To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners.
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We fancy not the cardinal.
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"Oh! I can fancy her flutter! For my part, if there be one character in the world more odious than another, I think it is a fussy woman. Lady, with Lord Cadurcis dining with her, and the new beauty for a niece, must have been in a most delectable state of bustle.
To breed (animals) as a hobby.
Usage- Transitive
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I would recommend this little book very highly to anyone who fancies pigeons, novices and veterans alike.
Adjective
not plain; decorative or ornamented
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fancy handwriting
fancy clothes
Noun
something many people believe that is false
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they have the illusion that I am very wealthy
He fancies himself to be a local celebrity.
imagination or fantasy; held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination
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never had the wildest flights of fancy imagined such magnificence
a predisposition to like something
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he had a fondness for whiskey
she had dismissed him quite brutally, relegating him to the status of a passing fancy, or less
Verb
imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
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I can't see him on horseback!
I can see what will happen
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I can see a risk in this strategy
have a fancy or particular liking or desire for
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She fancied a necklace that she had seen in the jeweler's window