fancy

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Imagination or fantasy.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fansee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfænsi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

Imagination or fantasy; held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination
“Never had the wildest flights of fancy imagined such magnificence.”
An image or representation of anything formed in the mind.
An opinion or notion formed without much reflection.
The object of inclination or liking.
Love or amorous attachment.
Any sport or hobby pursued by a group.

adjective

Decorative, or featuring decorations, especially intricate or diverse ones.
Of a superior grade.
Executed with skill.
colloquial
Unnecessarily complicated.

verb

formal
To appreciate without jealousy or greed.
british
Would like; have a desire for.
To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners.
To form a conception of; to portray in the mind.
transitive
To breed (animals) as a hobby.
britishinformal
To be sexually, aesthetically or romantically attracted to.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Imagination or fantasy; held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination

Used this way, fancy is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence

“Never had the wildest flights of fancy imagined such magnificence.”

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use fancy

“Never had the wildest flights of fancy imagined such magnificence.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

fancy dresssome fancy

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

fancy dressnounCompound term
A costume worn as a disguise at a masquerade party.
fancy-dress ballnounCompound term
A ball at which guests wear costumes and masks.
fancy goodsnounCompound term
Goods that are chiefly ornamental.
fancy mannounCompound term
Someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce).
fancy upverbCompound term
Put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive.
fancy womannounCompound term
A woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: imagination or fantasy

phantasy

adjective

Sense: decorative or or featuring decorations or especially intricate

elaborate

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.