1
as in dreams
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
a writer with a prodigious talent for creating fancies that captivate readers young and old
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in whims
a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action
is this a serious interest in music, or just your latest fancy that will be forgotten after a week?
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in likings
positive regard for something
now that he's rich he's taken a fancy to expensive sports cars
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in imagines
to form a mental picture of
try to fancy, if you can, our mother on an elephant when she was touring India
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in enjoys
to take pleasure in
the teacher didn't fancy the idea of failing the student, even if he was the class clown
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fancies
Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
Child actor Jax James has been set in the series regular role of Dougie, Maureen’s only son who is not even ten but acts like a 60-year-old scholar and has no time for childish fancies.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 10 Mar. 2026
Schenn, at 36 years old, is not a legitimate everyday defenseman, certainly not for a team that (rightly) fancies itself a contender.
—Corey Pronman, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
While Maluma never called this swanky condo home, the 31-year-old singer and rapper appreciates plenty of other high-end fancies.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 24 Nov. 2025
At least there were idealists who dreamed such fancies, and their dreams were the pretext for creating this nation.
—Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 1 May 2026
And Ripi fancies itself as a disruptor.
—Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 19 Mar. 2026
Jackson fancies himself an American Sadat, performing the most sensitive, high-profile diplomatic missions for the president but without the accountability of appointive office.
—Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, 20 Feb. 2026
Gronk makes his game prediction Boise State may be coming into Saturday’s game as an underdog by over a touchdown, but Gronkowski fancies the Broncos’ chances.
—Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 13 Dec. 2025
Noun
Yenor now fancies doing a little discrimination of his own.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
Child actor Jax James has been set in the series regular role of Dougie, Maureen’s only son who is not even ten but acts like a 60-year-old scholar and has no time for childish fancies.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 10 Mar. 2026
Schenn, at 36 years old, is not a legitimate everyday defenseman, certainly not for a team that (rightly) fancies itself a contender.
—Corey Pronman, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
While Maluma never called this swanky condo home, the 31-year-old singer and rapper appreciates plenty of other high-end fancies.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 24 Nov. 2025
At least there were idealists who dreamed such fancies, and their dreams were the pretext for creating this nation.
—Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
Verb
When the dreams start bleeding into real life, Charlie — who fancies himself an amateur detective — convinces his brother and friends to investigate Lorcan’s mysterious origins, a thread that soon unravels an entire secret fantasy world kept under wraps by the elders of the island.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 1 May 2026
And Ripi fancies itself as a disruptor.
—Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 19 Mar. 2026
Jackson fancies himself an American Sadat, performing the most sensitive, high-profile diplomatic missions for the president but without the accountability of appointive office.
—Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, 20 Feb. 2026
Gronk makes his game prediction Boise State may be coming into Saturday’s game as an underdog by over a touchdown, but Gronkowski fancies the Broncos’ chances.
—Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 13 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fancies
Noun
-
Around him, siblings, lovers and friends face CIA threats, tourist-rental anxieties, drug-dealing producers, secret desire and lottery dreams in a choral portrait of love, family and frustrated escape.—
Callum McLennan,
Variety,
11 May 2026
-
Each gets stage time to speak at length about their dreams, both realized and broken, and regrets.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
In 1922, Reverend Bowler took to the pages of the national Chicago Defender to advise Black passengers to leave nothing to chance or the whims of railroad employees or law enforcement when traveling the rails.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 May 2026
-
Washington was never meant to be an anthology of presidential whims.—
Israel Melendez Ayala,
Time,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
There’s probably a smart, chilling film to be made about the terrors of smothering and relentless adoration — one imagines what Rod Serling would have done with something like this — but this isn’t really that film.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
15 May 2026
-
Near the end of the piece, Amodei imagines a scenario in which AI has rendered the current economic system irrelevant.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
For instance, Charli is a plush purple monkey who enjoys hugging fingers and reacts to movement.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
15 May 2026
-
In the almost three decades since, their yard has become a sort of experimentation ground for Paul, who enjoys creating his own hybrids.—
Jenna Sims,
Southern Living,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
While Goodman’s paradoxes and fantasies posed challenges to me as her biographer, with the advent of AI slop and ChatGPT, our courtship with illusion (and possibly delusion) is here to stay.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 May 2026
-
Known for its signature vibrant psychedelic prints, the designs are summer personified, enticing fans with fantasies of wearing them by the pool, Aperol spritz in hand.—
Diana Tsui,
Footwear News,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
Atlanta — Going into retirement, 58-year-old David White of Atlanta, Georgia, had some preconceived notions.—
Steve Hartman,
CBS News,
16 May 2026
-
With a cast drawn from comedy-scene friends such as Kate Berlant and Conner O’Malley all tuned into a very specific wavelength, the movie somehow surpasses conventional notions of camp and irony to exist in a genuinely unique space all its own.—
Tracy Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
Activist spirits might dismiss this emphasis on the purely sonic as a strategy of avoidance, although the likes of Feizabadi and Kourliandski can’t be accused of sitting idly by.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
Rai being the last man standing among the likes of Ludvig Aberg, McIlroy, Rahm, Reed, and Schauffele — who all began the day within three shots of the lead — has a feeling of randomness about it, which was the theme for the week at Aronimink.—
Mark Harris,
FOXNews.com,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
That disconnect between what a person envisions and what their phone actually records, eventually became the founding thesis behind WayShot.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
12 May 2026
-
Star Catcher envisions its power-node system as complementing nuclear generators rather than supplanting them, according to Rush.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fancies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fancies. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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