fancy

/ˈfænsi/

/ˈfænsi/

Other forms: fancied; fancies; fancying; fanciest; fancily

Fancy can be an adjective, noun, or a verb. As an adjective, it’s the opposite of plain. The noun names something that isn’t real. When someone likes or wants something, the verb can be used: “I fancy a cup of tea.” Doesn’t that sound fancy?

Fancy is an old contraction of the word fantasy. You’ll often see this word used in the phrase “flights of fancy.” This phrase refers to an unrealistic goal or idea such as, “He has flights of fancy about running off to Hollywood and becoming a movie star.” Fancy can also be used as an expression of affection. If you have a crush on someone, for instance, you could say that you “took a fancy” to him or her.

Definitions of fancy

1. adjective

   not plain; decorative or ornamented
   “fancy handwriting”

   “fancy clothes”

   synonyms:

   adorned, decorated

   provided with something intended to increase its beauty or distinction

   aureate, flamboyant, florid

   elaborately or excessively ornamented

   baroque, churrigueresco, churrigueresque

   having elaborate symmetrical ornamentation

   busy, fussy

   overcrowded or cluttered with detail

   dressy

   in fancy clothing

   crackle

   having the surface decorated with a network of fine cracks, as in crackleware

   damascene

   (of metals) decorated or inlaid with a wavy pattern of different (especially precious) metals

   damask

   having a woven pattern

   elaborate, luxuriant, ornate

   marked by complexity and richness of detail

   battlemented, castellated, castled, embattled

   having or resembling repeated square indentations like those in a battlement

   fanciful

   having a curiously intricate quality

   fantastic

   extravagantly fanciful in design, construction, appearance

   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

   rhetorical

   given to rhetoric, emphasizing style at the expense of thought

   antonyms:

   plain

   not elaborate or elaborated; simple

   unadorned, undecorated

   not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction

   austere, severe, stark, stern

   severely simple

   bare, mere, simple

   apart from anything else; without additions or modifications

   chaste

   pure and simple in design or style

   dry

   (of food) eaten without a spread or sauce or other garnish

   dry

   having no adornment or coloration

   featureless

   lacking distinguishing characteristics or features

   homely

   plain and unpretentious

   inelaborate, unelaborate

   not elaborate; lacking rich or complex detail

   literal

   avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis)

   simple

   unornamented

   tailored, trim

   severely simple in line or design

   vanilla

   plain and without any extras or adornments

   unpretentious

   lacking pretension or affectation

   unrhetorical

   not rhetorical

   simple

   having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
2. verb

   imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
   synonyms: envision, figure, image, picture, project, see, visualise, visualize

   realise, realize, see, understand

   perceive (an idea or situation) mentally

   visualise, visualize

   form a mental picture of something that is invisible or abstract

   type of:

   conceive of, envisage, ideate, imagine

   form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
3. noun

   something many people believe that is false
   synonyms: fantasy, illusion, phantasy

   types:

   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

   type of:

   misconception

   an incorrect conception
4. noun

   a kind of imagination that was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination
   type 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
5. noun

   a predisposition to like something
   synonyms: fondness, partiality

   type of:

   liking

   a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment
6. verb

   have a fancy or particular liking or desire for
   “She fancied a necklace that she had seen in the jeweler's window”

   synonyms: go for, take to

   type of:

   desire, want

   feel or have a desire for; want strongly