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Fancy vs Wit - What's the difference?

fancy | wit | Related terms |

Fancy is a related term of wit.


As a noun fancy

is the imagination.

As an adjective fancy

is decorative.

As a verb fancy

is (formal) to appreciate without jealousy or greed.

fancy

English

Alternative forms

* (all obsolete)

Noun

(fancies)
  • The imagination.
  • * Milton
    • In the soul / Are many lesser faculties, that serve / Reason as chief. Among these fancy next / Her office holds.
  • An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea.
  • * Shakespeare
    • How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, / Of sorriest fancies your companions making?
  • An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; an impression.
  • * John Locke
    • I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children.
  • A whim.
    • I had a fancy to learn to play the flute.
  • Love or amorous attachment.
    • He took a fancy to her.
  • The object of inclination or liking.
  • * Shakespeare
    • to fit your fancies to your father's will
  • Any sport or hobby pursued by a group.
    • Trainspotting is the fancy of a special lot.
    the cat fancy
  • The enthusiasts of such a pursuit.
    • He fell out of favor with the boxing fancy after the incident.
  • * De Quincey
    • a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy
  • A diamond with a distinctive colour.
  • That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.
  • * Mortimer
    • London pride is a pretty fancy for borders.
  • (obsolete) A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • In the game of jacks, a style of play involving additional actions (contrasted with plainsies).
  • * 1970 , Marta Weigle, Follow my fancy: the book of jacks and jack games (page 22)
    • When you have mastered plainsies, the regular jack game, and have learned all the rules, you will be ready to use this part of the book. A fancy is a variation of plainsies which usually requires more skill than plainsies does.
  • * 2002 , Elizabeth Dana Jaffe, ?Sherry L. Field, ?Linda D. Labbo, Jacks (page 26)
    • When you get good at jacks, try adding a fancy . A fancy is an extra round at the end of a game. It makes the game a little harder. Jack Be Nimble, Around the World, or Black Widow are some fancies.

    Derived terms

    * flight of fancy * tickle someone's fancy

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Decorative.
    • This is a fancy shawl.
  • Of a superior grade.
    • This box contains bottles of the fancy grade of jelly.
  • Executed with skill.
    • He initiated the game winning play with a fancy , deked saucer pass to the winger.
  • (colloquial) Unnecessarily complicated.
    • I'm not keen on him and his fancy ideas.
  • (obsolete) Extravagant; above real value.
  • * Macaulay
    • This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his [Frederick the Great's] father to pay fancy prices for giants.

    Synonyms

    * (decorative) decorative, ornate * (unnecessarily complicated) highfalutin

    Antonyms

    * (decorative) plain, simple * (unnecessarily complicated) simple

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • (formal) To appreciate without jealousy or greed.
    • I fancy your new car, but I like my old one just fine.
  • (British) would like
    • I fancy a burger tonight for dinner
    Do you fancy going to town this weekend?
  • (British, informal) To be sexually attracted to.
    • I fancy that girl over there.
  • (dated) To imagine, suppose.
    • I fancy you'll want something to drink after your long journey.
    Fancy meeting you here!
    Fancy that! I saw Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy kissing in the garden.
  • * John Locke
    • If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know.
  • * Thackeray
    • He fancied he was welcome, because those around him were his kinsmen.
  • * 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
    • I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.
  • To form a conception of; to portray in the mind; to imagine.
  • * Dryden
    • he whom I fancy , but can ne'er express
  • To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners.
  • * Shakespeare
    • We fancy not the cardinal.

    Synonyms

    * (be sexually attracted to) like (US) * (would like to) feel like

    Derived terms

    * fancy that

    See also

    * fantasy * fancy man * fancy oneself * fancypants * fancy woman

    External links

    *

    wit

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), from (etyl) . Compare (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Sanity.
  • The senses.
  • Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.
  • The ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially under short time constraints.
  • Intelligence; common sense.
  • Humour, especially when clever or quick.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
  • A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.
    • Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * brevity is the soul of wit * collect one's wits * gather one's wits * have one’s wits about one * inwit * mother wit * native wit * scare out of one’s wits * witcraft * witful * witless * witling * witter * wittol * witticism

    See also

    (type of humor) * acid * biting * cutting * lambent

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) . Compare (m).

    Verb

    (head)
  • (ambitransitive, chiefly, archaic) Know, be aware of .
    • You committed terrible actions — to wit , murder and theft — and should be punished accordingly.
    They are meddling in matters that men should not wit of.
  • * 1849 , , St. Luke the Painter , lines 5–8
    • but soon having wist
    How sky-breadth and field-silence and this day
    Are symbols also in some deeper way,
    She looked through these to God and was God’s priest.
    Conjugation
    {, , - , valign="top" , {, class="prettytable" , - ! Infinitive , to wit , - ! Imperative , wit , - ! Present participle , witting , - ! Past participle , wist , } , valign="top" , {, class="prettytable" , - ! ! Present indicative ! Past indicative , - ! First-person singular , I wot , I wist , - ! Second-person singular , thou wost, wot(test) (archaic); you wot , thou wist(est) (archaic), you wist , - ! Third-person singular , he/she/it wot , he/she/it wist , - ! First-person plural , we wit(e) , we wist , - ! Second-person plural , ye wit(e) (archaic); you wit(e) , ye wist (archaic), you wist , - ! Third-person plural , they wit(e) , they wist , } , }
    Usage notes
    * As a preterite-present verb, the third-person singular indicative form is not .
    Derived terms
    * to wit * unwitting * witness

    Etymology 3

    From English with.

    Preposition

    (head)
  • (en-SoE)

    • Anagrams

    * English irregular verbs English terms with homophones ----