Origin of fancy
SYNONYMS FOR fancy
2
Fancy,
fantasy,
imagination refer to qualities in literature or other artistic composition. The creations of
fancy are casual, whimsical, and often amusing, being at once less profound and less moving or inspiring than those of imagination:
letting one's fancy play freely on a subject; an impish fancy.
Fantasy now usually suggests an unrestrained or extravagant fancy, often resulting in caprice:
The use of fantasy in art creates interesting results. The term and concept of creative
imagination are less than two hundred years old; previously only the
reproductive aspect had been recognized, hardly to be distinguished from memory. “Creative imagination” suggests that the memories of actual sights and experiences may so blend in the mind of the writer or artist as to produce something that has never existed before—often a hitherto unperceived vision of reality:
to use imagination in portraying character and action.
3 thought, notion, impression, idea; phantasm.
5 quirk, humor, crotchet.
11 fine, elegant, choice.
12 decorated, ornate.
16 envision, conceive, imagine.
OTHER WORDS FROM fancy
fan·ci·ness, noun un·fan·cy, adjectiveWords nearby fancy
British Dictionary definitions for fanciness
Derived forms of fancy
fancily, adverb fanciness, nounWord Origin for fancy
C15
fantsy, shortened from
fantasie; see
fantasy
Idioms and Phrases with fanciness
fancy
see flight of fancy; footloose and fancy-free; take a fancy to; tickle one's fancy;.