fancy
adj , -cier, -ciest
1 not plain; ornamented or decorative
a fancy cake, fancy clothes
2 requiring skill to perform; intricate
a fancy dance routine
3 arising in the imagination; capricious or illusory
4 (often used ironically) superior in quality or impressive
a fancy course in business administration
5 higher than expected
fancy prices
6 (of a domestic animal) bred for particular qualities
n pl , -cies
7 a sudden capricious idea; whim
8 a sudden or irrational liking for a person or thing
9 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 →
4
10 an idea or thing produced by this
12 taste or judgment, as in art of dress
13 (Also called)
fantasy, fantasia (Music) a composition for solo lute, keyboard, etc., current during the 16th and 17th centuries
14 ♦
the fancy
Archaic those who follow a particular sport, esp. prize fighting
vb , -cies, -cying, -cied tr
15 to picture in the imagination
16 to suppose; imagine
I fancy it will rain
17 often used with a negative to like
I don't fancy your chances!
18 reflexive to have a high or ill-founded opinion of oneself
he fancied himself as a doctor
19 Informal to have a wish for; desire
she fancied some chocolate
20 (Brit)
informal to be physically attracted to (another person)
21 to breed (animals) for particular characteristics
interj
22 (Also)
fancy that! an exclamation of surprise or disbelief (C15 fantsy, shortened from fantasie; see fantasy) ♦
fancily adv ♦
fanciness n
fantasia
n
1 any musical composition of a free or improvisatory nature
2 a potpourri of popular tunes woven freely into a loosely bound composition
3 another word for →
fancy →
13
(C18: from Italian: fancy; see fantasy)