FANCY (fancied, fancier, fanciest)
Dictionary entry overview: What does fancy mean?
• FANCY (noun)
The noun FANCY has 3 senses:
1. something many people believe that is false
2. a kind of imagination that was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination
3. a predisposition to like something
Familiarity information: FANCY used as a noun is uncommon.
• FANCY (adjective)
The adjective FANCY has 1 sense:
1. not plain; decorative or ornamented
Familiarity information: FANCY used as an adjective is very rare.
• FANCY (verb)
The verb FANCY has 2 senses:
1. imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
2. have a fancy or particular liking or desire for
Familiarity information: FANCY used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
• FANCY (noun)
Meaning:
Something many people believe that is false
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
fancy; phantasy; illusion; fantasy
Context example:
they have the illusion that I am very wealthy
Hypernyms ("fancy" is a kind of...):
misconception (an incorrect conception)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fancy"):
bubble (an impracticable and illusory idea)
ignis fatuus; will-o'-the-wisp (an illusion that misleads)
wishful thinking (the illusion that what you wish for is actually true)
Meaning:
A kind of imagination that was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("fancy" is a kind of...):
imagination; imaginativeness; vision (the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses)
Meaning:
A predisposition to like something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Synonyms:
partiality; fondness; fancy
Context example:
he had a fondness for whiskey
Hypernyms ("fancy" is a kind of...):
liking (a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment)
• FANCY (adjective)
Meaning:
Not plain; decorative or ornamented
Context examples:
fancy handwriting / fancy clothes
Similar:
fanciful (having a curiously intricate quality)
fantastic (extravagantly fanciful in design, construction, appearance)
garnished (having decorative or flavorful additions; sometimes used in combination)
lacelike; lacy (made of or resembling lace)
puff; puffed (gathered for protruding fullness)
rococo (having excessive asymmetrical ornamentation)
vermicular; vermiculate; vermiculated (decorated with wormlike tracery or markings)
battlemented; castellated; castled; crenelate; crenelated; crenellate; crenellated; embattled; indented (having or resembling repeated square indentations like those in a battlement)
elaborate; luxuriant (marked by complexity and richness of detail)
damask (having a woven pattern)
damascene ((of metals) decorated or inlaid with a wavy pattern of different (especially precious) metals)
crackle (having the surface decorated with a network of fine cracks, as in crackleware)
dressy (in fancy clothing)
busy; fussy (overcrowded or cluttered with detail)
baroque; churrigueresco; churrigueresque (having elaborate symmetrical ornamentation)
aureate; flamboyant; florid (elaborately or excessively ornamented)
Also:
adorned; decorated (provided with something intended to increase its beauty or distinction)
rhetorical (concerned with effect or style of writing and speaking)
Antonym:
plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)
• FANCY (verb)
Meaning:
Imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Synonyms:
envision; fancy; visualize; image; picture; visualise; figure; see; project
Context examples:
I can't see him on horseback! / I can see what will happen / I can see a risk in this strategy
Hypernyms (to "fancy" is one way to...):
conceive of; envisage; ideate; imagine (form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Meaning:
Have a fancy or particular liking or desire for
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Synonyms:
take to; fancy; go for
Context example:
She fancied a necklace that she had seen in the jeweler's window
Hypernyms (to "fancy" is one way to...):
desire; want (feel or have a desire for; want strongly)
"Fancy" entails doing...:
like (find enjoyable or agreeable)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Sentence examples:
Sam cannot fancy Sue
They fancy more bread
