# fancy

Pronunciation: say "FAN-see" /ˈfæn.si/

## Adjective

1. Belonging to a superior grade or quality level.
   - Simple: Of a higher quality than the usual kind.
   - _These olives are the fancy grade, sorted carefully for size and color._
   - _Buyers pay more for fancy preserves than for the standard line._
2. Decorative, or covered with decorations, especially intricate or varied ones.
   - Simple: Having lots of pretty decorations, often detailed or in many different styles.
   - _The hotel lobby featured a fancy chandelier with hundreds of crystal pieces._
   - _Their wedding invitations used fancy gold lettering and an embossed border._
3. Needlessly complicated or more elaborate than required. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: More complicated than it needs to be.
   - _The software is full of fancy options that just slow people down._
   - _He gave a fancy explanation when a plain one would have worked._
8. Done or performed with conspicuous skill.
   - Simple: Done with great skill, often in an impressive way.
   - _The dancer's fancy footwork drew loud applause from the crowd._
   - _He pulled off a fancy move and scored the winning goal._
11. Extravagantly priced, above the real value of the thing.
   - Simple: Costing much more than something is really worth.
   - _Speculators paid fancy sums for tulip bulbs that soon proved worthless._
   - _He scorned the fancy prices the jeweler demanded for ordinary stones._

## Verb

4. To want or feel like having or doing something, or to like someone or something, as in 'Do you fancy a coffee?' *(British)*
   - Simple: To want something or like the idea of it, like '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?_
5. To be romantically, sexually, or aesthetically attracted to someone. *(colloquial, British)*
   - Simple: To find someone attractive or like them in a romantic way.
   - _It was obvious from the start that he fancied her._
   - _Plenty of fans openly fancy the band's lead singer._
18. To breed animals, such as pigeons or rabbits, as a hobby.
   - Simple: To breed animals like rabbits or birds just for fun.
   - _Her grandfather fancied prize bantams, breeding them for shows across the county._
   - _Enthusiasts who fancy pigeons often spend years perfecting a single breed._

## Noun

6. A sudden, passing wish or impulse.
   - Simple: A sudden wish to do or have something, without a strong reason.
   - _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._
7. The faculty of imagination; the mind's power to form images and ideas.
   - Simple: The power of the mind to form pictures and ideas.
   - _Her fancy filled the empty house with imagined guests._
   - _In his fancy, the crumbling ruin rose again as a grand castle._
9. A person or thing that is the object of one's liking or inclination.
   - Simple: A person or thing that someone likes or wants.
   - _The red sports car was his latest fancy._
   - _Of all the puppies, the small brown one became her fancy._
13. Something that pleases or entertains the taste or whim, without much practical use or value.
   - Simple: Something that pleases your taste but has little real 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._
10. An idea or picture formed in the mind, especially one with little basis in fact or taken up without much thought.
   - Simple: An idea or picture in your mind, often one that is not real or not carefully thought about.
   - _Strange fancies filled her head as she drifted off to sleep._
   - _He described the fancy of a floating city in vivid detail._
14. A diamond displaying a distinctive natural color rather than the usual near-colorless appearance.
   - Simple: A diamond with a strong, unusual color.
   - _The auction featured a vivid pink fancy of nearly three carats._
   - _Collectors prize fancies in shades of blue, green, and orange._
15. A dainty bite-size cake made of cream-filled sponge and coated in icing.
   - Simple: A small sponge cake with cream inside and icing on top.
   - _Each fancy was topped with smooth pink icing and filled with cream._
   - _The caterer arranged dozens of fancies on tiered stands._
16. Love or romantic attachment to someone.
   - Simple: A feeling of love or romantic liking for someone.
   - _Her fancy for him grew with every letter they exchanged._
   - _He never hid his fancy for the girl next door._
19. A hobby such as breeding animals for show or following boxing, or the whole body of enthusiasts devoted to it.
   - Simple: A hobby, such as breeding pets for shows, or all the people who are keen on 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._

## Adverb

17. In an elaborate or showily decorated manner. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: In a showy or elaborate way.
   - _She writes fancy when she wants to seem important._
   - _They had the room done up fancy for the wedding._

## Verb

12. To imagine or picture something in the mind, or to think or suppose that something is so. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To imagine something, or to think that something is probably true.
   - _I fancy the weather will turn before evening._
   - _He fancied himself quite the expert on the matter._

## Noun

20. A kind of love song, or light improvised ballad. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A short love song, often made up on the spot.
21. At a prizefight, a colored neckerchief a backer wore to declare support for one of the fighters. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A colored scarf worn at a boxing match to show which fighter you backed.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To appreciate something freely, without jealousy or greed.
- (noun) In the game of jacks, a style of play that adds extra hand movements, in contrast to the basic version called plainsies.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 6–11, 13–17, 19–21** — "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.
**Meanings 4–5, 12, 18** — The verb comes from Middle English fancien, from Old French fantasier, which was formed from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fancy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).