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Fancy   /fˈænsi/   Listen
verb
Fancy  v. t.  
1.
To form a conception of; to portray in the mind; to imagine. "He whom I fancy, but can ne'er express."
2.
To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners. "We fancy not the cardinal."
3.
To believe without sufficient evidence; to imagine (something which is unreal). "He fancied he was welcome, because those arounde him were his kinsmen."



Fancy  v. i.  (past & past part. fancied, pres. part. fancying)  
1.
To figure to one's self; to believe or imagine something without proof. "If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know."
2.
To love. (Obs.)



adjective
Fancy  adj.  
1.
Adapted to please the fancy or taste, especially when of high quality or unusually appealing; ornamental; as, fancy goods; fancy clothes.
2.
Extravagant; above real value. "This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his (Frederick the Great's) father to pay fancy prices for giants."
Fancy ball, a ball in which porsons appear in fanciful dresses in imitation of the costumes of different persons and nations.
Fancy fair, a fair at which articles of fancy and ornament are sold, generally for some charitable purpose.
Fancy goods, fabrics of various colors, patterns, etc., as ribbons, silks, laces, etc., in distinction from those of a simple or plain color or make.
Fancy line (Naut.), a line rove through a block at the jaws of a gaff; used to haul it down.
Fancy roller (Carding Machine), a clothed cylinder (usually having straight teeth) in front of the doffer.
Fancy stocks, a species of stocks which afford great opportunity for stock gambling, since they have no intrinsic value, and the fluctuations in their prices are artificial.
Fancy store, one where articles of fancy and ornament are sold.
Fancy woods, the more rare and expensive furniture woods, as mahogany, satinwood, rosewood, etc.



noun
Fancy  n.  (pl. fancies)  
1.
The faculty by which the mind forms an image or a representation of anything perceived before; the power of combining and modifying such objects into new pictures or images; the power of readily and happily creating and recalling such objects for the purpose of amusement, wit, or embellishment; imagination. "In the soul Are many lesser faculties, that serve Reason as chief. Among these fancy next Her office holds."
2.
An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea; conceit. "How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, Of sorriest fancies your companoins making?"
3.
An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; caprice; whim; impression. "I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children."
4.
Inclination; liking, formed by caprice rather than reason; as, to strike one's fancy; hence, the object of inclination or liking. "To fit your fancies to your father's will."
5.
That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value. "London pride is a pretty fancy for borders."
6.
A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad. (Obs.)
The fancy, all of a class who exhibit and cultivate any peculiar taste or fancy; hence, especially, sporting characters taken collectively, or any specific class of them, as jockeys, gamblers, prize fighters, etc. "At a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy."
Synonyms: Imagination; conceit; taste; humor; inclination; whim; liking. See Imagination.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Fancy" Quotes from Famous Books



... into the sage while he and their distracted mother searched for them. For a long while—how many years Brit could not remember—they had been living in Los Angeles. Prospering, too, Brit understood. The girl, Lorraine—Minnie had wanted fancy names for the kids, and Brit apologised whenever he spoke of them, which was seldom—Lorraine had written that "Mamma has an apartment house." That had sounded prosperous, even at the beginning. And as the years passed and their address remained ...
— Sawtooth Ranch • B. M. Bower

... worthy!" He had not thought her fit to be his wife. Her father and her world would think it quite otherwise. They would count him unworthy to mate with her, an heiress, the pet of society; he a man who had given up his life for a whim, a fad, a fanatical fancy! But she knew it was not so. She knew him to be a man of all men. She knew it was true that she was not such a woman as a man like that could fitly wed, and ...
— The Man of the Desert • Grace Livingston Hill

... the United States," Lord Ashleigh reminded him, "so your criticism doesn't affect him. By-the-by, Middleton, I heard this morning that you'd been airing your opinions down in the village. You seem to rather fancy yourself as a thief-catcher." ...
— The Black Box • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... misfortunes, is always allayed by the fear that it will lull us into security. Supineness, and a disposition to flatter ourselves, seem to make parts of our national character. When we receive a check and are not quite undone, we are apt to fancy we have gained a victory; and when we do gain any little advantage, we imagine it decisive, and expect the war immediately to end. The history of the war is a history of false hopes and temporary expedients. Would to God they were to end here! This winter, if I am not mistaken, ...
— The Life of George Washington, Vol. 3 (of 5) • John Marshall

... there are now extant some fragments of his pen, and of the times, which do interest him in the muses, and which show in him the Queen's election had ever a noble conduct, and it motions more of virtue and judgment than of fancy. ...
— Travels in England and Fragmenta Regalia • Paul Hentzner and Sir Robert Naunton


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