fancy
Verbfancies, fancying, fancied
Noun pluralfancies
Formsfancies, fancying, fancied
Pluralfancies
- 1
- 2Decorative, or covered with decorations, especially intricate or varied ones.
The hotel lobby featured a fancy chandelier with hundreds of crystal pieces.
Their wedding invitations used fancy gold lettering and an embossed border.
UsageCommon in nothing fancy when describing a plain appearance: a simple border, nothing fancy.
Similardecorative, ornate
- 3Needlessly complicated or more elaborate than required.
The software is full of fancy options that just slow people down.
He gave a fancy explanation when a plain one would have worked.
UsageUsually critical: fancy ideas, fancy words that overcomplicate things. A fancy grade of food, by contrast, is praise.
Similarhighfalutin
Oppositesimple
- 4To want or feel like having or doing something, or to like someone or something, as in 'Do you fancy a coffee?'
She didn't fancy another long meeting at the end of the day.
Do you fancy anything from the bakery on the corner?
UsageTakes a noun or an -ing form: fancy a coffee?, fancy going out? As a question it is a light invitation.
Similarwant
- 5To be romantically, sexually, or aesthetically attracted to someone.
It was obvious from the start that he fancied her.
Plenty of fans openly fancy the band's lead singer.
UsageThe object is a person: he fancies her. Compare fancy a coffee, which is about wanting something.
Similarlike
Oppositedislike
Note
The usage is far from new. Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great already asks, "How can you fancie one that lookes so fierce."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Christopher Marlowe wrote Tamburlaine the Great. en.wikipedia.org
- The quoted words occur in Tamburlaine the Great, spoken by Agydas to Zenocrate. en.wiktionary.org
- This attraction sense is centuries old, occurring in the play's first publication in 1590. emed.folger.edu
- 6A sudden, passing wish or impulse.
Whenever the fancy strikes, she packs a bag and drives to the coast for the weekend.
His plan to sell everything and live on a boat turned out to be a passing fancy that lasted about a month.
UsageOften a passing fancy, when the fancy strikes, or a fancy to + verb.
- 7The faculty of imagination; the mind's power to form images and ideas.
Her fancy filled the empty house with imagined guests.
In his fancy, the crumbling ruin rose again as a grand castle.
UsageA set phrase is a flight of fancy, an imaginative idea with little grounding in fact.
Similarimagination, fantasy
Note
The meaning nearest the word's origin: fancy began as a Middle English contraction of fantasy, which goes back through Latin to a Greek verb meaning "to render visible." For Milton in Paradise Lost (1667), Fancy is a faculty of the soul, ranking just below Reason. Tennyson's line "a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love" (1842) uses it for the mind's roving, image-making power.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 8 facts
- Fancy originated as a Middle English contraction of fantasy. en.wiktionary.org
- The etymological chain passes through Latin. en.wiktionary.org
- The ultimate Greek verb, phantazō, means to render visible. en.wiktionary.org
- John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
- Paradise Lost presents Fancy as a faculty of the soul immediately subordinate to Reason; Adam explains this to Eve. en.wikisource.org
- The quoted words occur in Tennyson's Locksley Hall. en.wikisource.org
- Locksley Hall was first published in 1842. en.wikipedia.org
- Tennyson's quotation illustrates fancy in the imagination sense. en.wiktionary.org
- 8
- 9A person or thing that is the object of one's liking or inclination.
The red sports car was his latest fancy.
Of all the puppies, the small brown one became her fancy.
Similarfavorite, pick, choice, passion, obsession
Note
Here the word shifts from the feeling to whatever the feeling settles on. When Hermia in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is told to "fit your fancies to your father's will," her fancies are her own choices in love, set against her father's wishes. The difference from the feeling of attachment is the difference between a liking and the thing you can point to.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- William Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream, which includes Hermia. gutenberg.org
- Hermia is told to fit her fancies to her father's will; Theseus speaks the quoted words. gutenberg.org
- Hermia's preference in love conflicts with her father's wishes. gutenberg.org
- 10An idea or picture formed in the mind, especially one with little basis in fact or taken up without much thought.
Strange fancies filled her head as she drifted off to sleep.
He described the fancy of a floating city in vivid detail.
Similarconceit
Note
Where the imagination is the power, here the word names what that power produces, so it can be counted: a fancy, many fancies. Macbeth is reproached for keeping "sorriest fancies" as his companions, and Lord Dunsany's The Gods of Pegāna (1905) builds a ship's masts from "poets' fancies." Conception, thought and idea are near synonyms, but fancy keeps a dreamlike edge.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Lady Macbeth reproaches Macbeth for making 'sorriest fancies' his companions. shakespeare.mit.edu
- Lord Dunsany wrote The Gods of Pegāna, first published in 1905. en.wikipedia.org
- The book describes a ship whose masts are made from 'poets' fancies.' gutenberg.org
- 11Extravagantly priced, above the real value of the thing.
Speculators paid fancy sums for tulip bulbs that soon proved worthless.
This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his [Frederick the Great's] father to pay fancy prices for giants.
1859, Thomas Macaulay, The Life of Frederick the GreatUsageUsually with prices or sums: fancy prices, paid a fancy sum. It complains, unlike the praising fancy grade.
Note
Macaulay's 1842 essay on Frederick the Great mocks the king's father for paying "fancy prices for giants," the tall recruits of his Potsdam guard.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Macaulay's essay on Frederick the Great appeared in April 1842. gutenberg.org
- Macaulay mocks Frederick's father for paying 'fancy prices for giants.' gutenberg.org
- The giants were unusually tall military recruits. gutenberg.org
- These recruits belonged to the Potsdam guard. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 12To imagine or picture something in the mind, or to think or suppose that something is so.
I fancy the weather will turn before evening.
He fancied he was welcome, because those around him were his kinsmen.
1857, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last CenturyUsageLives on in Fancy that! and Fancy meeting you here!, and in fancy yourself as an expert.
- 13Something that pleases or entertains the taste or whim, without much practical use or value.
He filled his shelves with fancies, trinkets that pleased the eye and nothing more.
The hat was a mere fancy, charming but useless.
Similartrinket, bauble, trifle, frippery, knickknack
Note
A countable word for an ornament or trifle, something chosen for its charm rather than its service. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of 1755 quotes John Mortimer's Whole Art of Husbandry calling London-pride "a pretty fancy" that "does well for borders," a plant valued for its looks. The adjective meaning "decorative" carries the same idea into description.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Samuel Johnson's Dictionary was first published in 1755. en.wikipedia.org
- John Mortimer wrote The Whole Art of Husbandry. en.wikipedia.org
- Johnson's 1755 Dictionary quotes Mortimer's Husbandry using both quoted phrases about London-pride. archive.org
- The London-pride example concerns a plant valued for ornament. archive.org
- 14A diamond displaying a distinctive natural color rather than the usual near-colorless appearance.
The auction featured a vivid pink fancy of nearly three carats.
Collectors prize fancies in shades of blue, green, and orange.
- 15A dainty bite-size cake made of cream-filled sponge and coated in icing.
Each fancy was topped with smooth pink icing and filled with cream.
The caterer arranged dozens of fancies on tiered stands.
UsageUsually with a qualifier: French fancies, fondant fancies, cream fancies.
- 16Love or romantic attachment to someone.
Her fancy for him grew with every letter they exchanged.
He never hid his fancy for the girl next door.
UsageUsually take a fancy to someone, which can mean a friendly liking as well as a romantic one.
Similarliking, partiality
Oppositedislike, aversion, distaste
Note
In Barbara Sleigh's Jessamy (1967), the speaker says that Kitto and the others have taken a fancy to her, and then explains: "That means they like me." The same words can cover a crush or a friendly liking, and only context tells them apart.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Barbara Sleigh wrote Jessamy. en.wikipedia.org
- Jessamy was first published in 1967. openlibrary.org
- The passage says that Kitto and the others have taken a fancy to the speaker and includes the exact explanation “That means they like me.” en.wiktionary.org
- 17In an elaborate or showily decorated manner.
She writes fancy when she wants to seem important.
They had the room done up fancy for the wedding.
UsageIn careful writing, use fancily. This form is most natural in casual phrases such as done up fancy or dress fancy.
Similarelaborately, showily, ornately, lavishly
- 18To breed animals, such as pigeons or rabbits, as a hobby.
Her grandfather fancied prize bantams, breeding them for shows across the county.
Enthusiasts who fancy pigeons often spend years perfecting a single breed.
UsageA breeder is a fancier: a pigeon fancier. Fancies pigeons can also just mean likes them.
Similarbreed, raise, rear, keep
Note
The American Pigeon Journal of 1973 recommends a book to "anyone who fancies pigeons." It is the verb behind the hobby itself.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The American Pigeon Journal published a book recommendation in 1973 containing the words “anyone who fancies pigeons.” en.wiktionary.org
- 19A hobby such as breeding animals for show or following boxing, or the whole body of enthusiasts devoted to it.
Breeders from across the state came to the fairgrounds for the biggest show of the year in the local poultry fancy.
For many Victorians, pigeon keeping was the fancy that filled their leisure hours.
UsageUsually the + animal + fancy: the cat fancy, the poultry fancy.
Note
One word serves three purposes: the pastime, the people who follow it, and the verb for breeding animals as a hobby. Trainspotting, in the same spirit, can be "the fancy of a special lot."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The trainspotting example reproduces wording found in Wiktionary; it is an illustrative example, without an attributed speaker. en.wiktionary.org
- 20A kind of love song, or light improvised ballad.
Note
In Shakespeare's The Second Part of Henry IV, a character sings tunes he heard carmen whistle and swears "they were his fancies or his good-nights." The line pairs the word with another popular song type of the period.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2 contains the quoted words: Falstaff reports that Shallow sang tunes heard from carmen and claimed them as his own. folger.edu
- Good-nights were another recognized type of song of the period. en.wikisource.org
- 21At a prizefight, a colored neckerchief a backer wore to declare support for one of the fighters.
Note
Obsolete prizefight slang that worked only in combination. The color named the man you backed: the yellow fancy, the cream fancy, the blood-red fancy. On its own, fancy would not have identified the neckerchief. It belongs to the same ringside world as the boxing crowd, and today it is purely historical.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- The neckerchief sense is obsolete prizefighting slang used in combinations. en.wiktionary.org
- A fighter's supporters wore his chosen colours to distinguish their allegiance. gutenberg.org
- Yellow fancy, cream fancy and blood-red fancy were names for handkerchief colours or patterns. gutenberg.org
- The recorded neckerchief sense requires a combination rather than fancy alone. en.wiktionary.org
- Fancy also denotes enthusiasts, including the boxing crowd. en.wiktionary.org
- 22To appreciate something freely, without jealousy or greed.
- 23In the game of jacks, a style of play that adds extra hand movements, in contrast to the basic version called plainsies.
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.
2002, Elizabeth Dana Jaffe, Sherry L. Field
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
"Fancy" is a contraction of "fantasy," which came from Middle English via Old French and Medieval and Late Latin from Ancient Greek phantasía ("appearance, imagination"), tied to words meaning "to make visible" and ultimately to a root meaning "to shine." It is a doublet of fantasia, fantasy, phantasia, and phantasy.
The verb comes from Middle English fancien, from Old French fantasier, which was formed from the noun.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- The verb derives from Middle English fancien, from Old French fantasier, formed from the corresponding noun. en.wiktionary.org