EN

Synonyms for fancy

90 synonyms
10 antonyms
9 meanings

noun
adjective
verb

Most common

taste liking penchant fondness caprice whim imagination idea

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

1. Taste — love or amorous attachment

taste, liking, penchant, thing informal, fondness, love, predilection, partiality, desire, pleasure, cup of tea, quirk, bag, preference, bent, proclivity, shine slang

2. Caprice — A whim

caprice, whim, freak, conceit, whim-wham, whimsy, craze, crotchet dated, maggot dated, toy dated

3. Fantasy

imagination, illusion, vision, imagery, fantasy dated

4. Notion — an image or representation of anything formed in the mind

idea, notion, conception, opinion

Other

impression, hobby, rococo

Adjective

1. Elaborate — decorative, or featuring decorations, especially intricate or diverse ones

elaborate, ornate, decorative, ornamental, florid, baroque

2. Fanciful — extravagant; above real value

fanciful, expensive, extravagant, elegant, pricey informal, fabulous, fine, out of sight, flamboyant, intricate, dear, exorbitant, steep

Other

highfalutin, high-end, fussy, busy, high-quality, luxuriant

Verb

1. Suppose

suppose, imagine, think, guess, see, image, dream, picture, surmise, understand, figure, believe, realize, realise UK, divine, envision, suspect

2. Take to

take to, go for

3. Prefer

like US, want, have a thing informal, feel like, prefer

Other

Antonyms

simple, plain, utilitarian

All antonyms of fancy →

Definitions

n. 1
An image or representation of anything formed in the mind.
n. 2
A whim.
I had a fancy to learn to play the flute.
adj. 1
Decorative, or featuring decorations, especially intricate or diverse ones.
v. 1
To appreciate without jealousy or greed.
I fancy your new car, but I like my old one just fine.

Related words

Word family: fanciful fancy-sick fancify fancy-schmancy fancywork fanciable fancier fantasy
Phrases: fancy up tickle someone's fancy flight of fancy strike someone's fancy fancy that catch someone's fancy take someone's fancy fancy ball

Forms

Plural: fancies → tastes, likings, penchants, things…
Past participle: fancied
e.g. fancied → supposed, imagined, guessed, seen…

Choose the right word

or Fancy?

A fancy is some image presented to the mind, often in the fullest exercise of its powers.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

taste My wife's taste in clothes is different from mine.
liking Fred took a liking to Jane and started dating her.
fondness He has a morbid fondness for murder mysteries.
penchant Women have a natural penchant for the mysterious.
whim Ziri should never do something like that on a whim.
conceit Her conceit about her beauty annoyed many people.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
fancy		rising
taste		rising
liking		rising
fondness		rising
penchant		rising
whim		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: see¹, bag¹, toy¹
4 letters: like¹, want¹, love¹, idea³, fine¹, dear¹, busy², bent¹, whim¹
5 letters: think¹, thing¹, guess¹, image², dream¹, taste¹, shine¹, freak¹, steep¹, hobby², adore², craze¹, quirk¹, fussy²
6 letters: figure², desire³, vision², prefer², notion², divine², bubble², liking², pricey², ornate², maggot², whimsy², rococo³, florid²
7 letters: believe², picture², opinion³, imagine³, realize³, suppose², fantasy³, suspect², realise³, elegant³, imagery³, baroque², caprice², conceit²
8 letters: pleasure², fabulous³, illusion³, envision³, penchant², fondness², fanciful³, crotchet
9 letters: expensive³, elaborate³, intricate³, luxuriant⁴
10 letters: understand³, impression³, preference³, conception³, decorative³, ornamental⁴, flamboyant³, exorbitant⁴, partiality⁵, proclivity⁴
11 letters: imagination⁵, extravagant⁴, highfalutin⁴
12 letters: predilection⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (idea³ = 3 syllables).