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Fancy vs Wonder - What's the difference?

fancy | wonder |

As nouns the difference between fancy and wonder

is that fancy is the imagination while wonder is one of the.

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

    wonder

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that causes amazement or awe; a marvel.
  • * , chapter=8
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.}}
  • Something astonishing and seemingly inexplicable.
  • Someone very talented at something, a genius.
  • The sense or emotion which can be inspired by something curious or unknown; surprise; astonishment.
  • * (Plato), TheƦtetus (section 155d)
  • Socrates: I see, my dear Theaetetus, that Theodorus had a true insight into your nature when he said that you were a philosopher, for wonder' is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in ' wonder . He was not a bad genealogist who said that Iris (the messenger of heaven) is the child of Thaumas (wonder).
  • * Bible, (w) iii. 10
  • They were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
  • * 1781 , (Samuel Johnson), The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
  • All wonder is the effect of novelty upon ignorance.
  • (UK, informal) A mental pondering, a thought.
  • * 1934 , Katharine Tynan, The house of dreams
  • Miss Paynter had a little wonder as to whether the man, as she called Mr. Lacy in her own mind, had ever been admitted to this room. She thought not.

    Derived terms

    * bewonder * boy wonder * girl wonder * gutless wonder * little wonder * nine day wonder * no wonder * one hit wonder * * small wonder * Wonder Woman * wonderberry * wonderboy * wonderbra * wonderchild * wonderdrug * wonderful * wonderland * wonderment * wondrous, wonderous * wonderworker * work wonders

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment; to be amazed; to marvel.
  • * (Jonathan Swift), (w, Gulliver's Travels)
  • I could not sufficiently wonder at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals.
  • * Johnson
  • We cease to wonder at what we understand.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • To ponder; to feel doubt and curiosity; to wait with uncertain expectation; to query in the mind.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • I wonder , in my soul, / What you would ask me, that I should deny.

    Derived terms

    * wonderer

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----