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# fancy

«fancy» in Mova's school dictionary: **decorated, special or expensive, not plain** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (fancy, fancier, fanciest); verb (fancy, fancies, fancied, fancying); noun (a fancy, fancies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Fancy means decorated, special or expensive, not plain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#m1)

2) In British, Australian and Irish English, to fancy something is to want it or like the idea of it: «Do you fancy a biscuit?» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#m2)

3) To fancy someone is to have a crush on them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#m3)

4) A fancy is a liking or an idea in your head; «take a fancy to» means start to like. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#m4)

5) Fancy is an exclamation of surprise meaning "just imagine!" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life fancy clothes, fancy cakes and fancy restaurants are for special occasions; a fancy-dress party is a costume party (UK). In maths, «fancy» is never needed; a plain method is fine. Phrases: «fancy dress», «Do you fancy...?», «take a fancy to», «nothing fancy», «Fancy that!» (how surprising).

### examples

- She wore a fancy dress with sparkles to the wedding. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x1)
- Do you fancy a game of football? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x2)
- We went to a fancy-dress party as pirates. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x3)
- The cake had fancy icing on top. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x4)
- Nothing fancy, just a sandwich, please. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x5)
- The cat took a fancy to my new jumper. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x6)
- Fancy meeting you here! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x7)
- Fancy my being afraid of a lion! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/#x8)

### note

Spelling: fancier, fanciest, fancies, fancied (y to i). «Fancy dress» in the UK means a costume, not a smart dress; Americans say «costume party». «Fancy» meaning «want» is less common in the USA.

### In the corpora

- [Teachers know how their pupils usually write, so a sudden fancy style stands out.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/9-the-essay-the-teacher-spotted/8/)
- [Fancy goldfish with bubble eyes, puffy heads or double tails were bred by people, and some swim slowly or see badly.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/381-silkworms-and-goldfish-two-animals-china-changed/17/)
- [The Gryphon chuckles: it's all her fancy, «they never executes nobody».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2/1/)
- [I like your spirit.» Toad starts slowly and carefully, and the gentlemen clap: fancy a washerwoman driving so well!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/64-willows-ch10-part4-into-the-horse-pond/2/)
- [Speaking loudly and clearly enough for the back row matters more than fancy words; this is called projecting your voice.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «fancy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fancy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.