any tems are made up of oddly assorted fancies, aften of the most whimsical kind; visionary expectations
are those which can never be realized in fact.
— Fan"ci*ful*ly, adv. - Fan"ci*ful*ness, n.
Fanciless
(Fan"ci*less) a. Having no fancy; without ideas or imagination. [R.]
A pert or bluff important wight,
Whose brain is fanciless, whose blood is white.
Armstrong. Fancy
(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. 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.
Fancy
(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.
Fancy
(Fan"cy), v. t.
