Word.ws English Dictionary

fancying

fancying is the present participle and gerund of fancy.

Meaning of fancy

Verb

fancy (third-person singular simple present fancies, present participle fancying, simple past and past participle fancied)

  1. (formal) To appreciate without jealousy or greed.
    • I fancy your new car, but I like my old one just fine.
  2. (UK) Would like; have a desire for.
    • I fancy a burger tonight for dinner.
    Synonyms:
    feel like
  3. (UK, informal) To be sexually, aesthetically or romantically attracted to.
    • I fancy that girl over there.
    Synonyms:
    like
  4. (dated) To imagine, suppose.
    • [dated] I fancy you'll want something to drink after your long journey.
  5. To form a conception of; to portray in the mind.
    • he whom I fancy, but can ne'er express1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Seventh Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]...
    Synonyms:
    imagine
  6. To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners.
    • We fancy not the cardinal.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

See all 29 meanings of fancy

Noun

fancying (plural fancyings)

  1. Something fancied or imagined.
    • These sad fancyings – chimeras, doubtless, of a sick and silly brain – led on the other and more special thoughts, concerning the eccentricities of Bartleby.1856, Herman Melville, “Bartleby the Scrivener”, in The Piazza Tales, New York: Dix, Edwards & Co, published 1856

Forms of fancying

pluralfancyings

Words formed from fancying

Phrases with fancying

Questions about fancying

What does fancying mean?
Fancying means something fancied or imagined.
What is fancying the present participle and gerund of?
Fancying is the present participle and gerund of fancy.
What part of speech is fancying?
Fancying is a noun.
What is the plural of fancying?
The plural of fancying is fancyings.

Words near fancying in the dictionary

  1. fancy-schmancy
  2. fancy-shmancier
  3. fancy-shmanciest
  4. fancy-shmancy
  5. fancy-sick
  6. fancying
  7. fancying one's chances
  8. fancying up
  9. fancyings
  10. fancyless
  11. fancymonger

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fancying (page history and authors); fancy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “fancying.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fancying. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.