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Definitions for: Fancy
[n] fancy was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than imagination
[n] something many people believe that is false; "they have the illusion that I am very wealthy"
[n] a predisposition to like something; "he had a fondness for whiskey"
[adj] not plain; decorative or ornamented; "fancy handwriting"; "fancy clothes"
[v] imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind; "I can't see him on horseback!"; "I can see what will happen"; "I can see a risk in this strategy"
[v] have a fancy or particular liking or desire for; "She fancied a necklace that she had seen in the jeweler's window"
Webster (1913) Definition: Fan"cy, n.; pl. Fancies. [Contr. fr. fantasy, OF.
fantasie, fantaisie, F. fantaisie, L. phantasia, fr. Gr.
???????? appearance, imagination, the power of perception and
presentation in the mind, fr. ???????? to make visible, to
place before one's mind, fr. ??????? to show; akin to ????,
???, light, Skr. bh[=a]to shine. Cf. Fantasy, Fantasia,
Epiphany, Phantom.]
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. --Milton.
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 ? --Shak.
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. --Locke.
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. --Shak.
5. That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice
without much use or value.
London pride is a pretty fancy for borders.
--Mortimer.
6. A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad. [Obs.]
--Shak.
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. --De Quincey.
Syn: Imagination; conceit; taste; humor; inclination; whim;
liking. See Imagination.
Fan"cy, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fancied, p. pr. & vb. n.
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. --Locke.
2. To love. [Obs.] --Shak.
Fan"cy, v. t.
1. To form a conception of; to portray in the mind; to
imagine.
He whom I fancy, but can ne'er express. --Dryden.
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.'' --Shak.
3. To believe without sufficient evidence; to imagine
(something which is unreal).
He fancied he was welcome, because those arounde him
were his kinsmen. --Thackeray.
Fan"cy, a.
1. Adapted to please the fancy or taste; ornamental; as,
fancy goods.
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. --Macaulay.
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.
Synonyms: aureate, baroque, battlemented, busy, castellated, castled, churrigueresco, churrigueresque, crackle, crenelate, crenelated, crenellate, crenellated, damascene, damascened, damask, dressy, elaborate, embattled, envision, fanciful, fantasy, figure, flamboyant, florid, fondness, fussy, garnished, go for, illusion, image, indented, lacelike, lacy, luxuriant, partiality, phantasy, picture, project, puff, puffed, rich, rococo, see, showy, take to, vermicular, vermiculate, vermiculated, visualise, visualize
Antonyms: plain
See Also: adorned, bubble, conceive of, decorated, desire, envisage, ideate, ignis fatuus, imagination, imaginativeness, imagine, like, liking, misconception, rhetorical, vision, want, will-o'-the-wisp, wishful thinking
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