FANCIEST
FANCY
fancy
(adjective) not plain; decorative or ornamented; “fancy handwriting”; “fancy clothes”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Adjective
fanciest
superlative form of fancy: most fancy; most fancy.
Anagrams
• facients
Source: Wiktionary
FANCY
Fan"cy, n.; pl. Fancies. Etym: [Contr. fr. fantasy, OF. fantasie,
fantaisie, F. fantaisie, L. phantasia, fr. Gr. bhato 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition