fancying

verb

present participle of fancy
1
as in imagining
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

Relevance
2
as in enjoying
to take pleasure in the teacher didn't fancy the idea of failing the student, even if he was the class clown

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fancying At the lower end of the survey’s spectrum and considerably more balanced sits marijuana regulation, with only 31% of respondents considering the topic to be important for people to understand, and 23% of respondents fancying themselves as highly informed on the matter. — Drew Pittock, USA Today, 7 June 2026 And there was a smattering of other items, which the visitor, fancying himself an amateur academic archeologist, thought worth noting. — Ben McGrath, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fancying
  1. imagining
  2. enjoying
  3. seeing
  4. liking
  5. envisioning
  6. savoring
  7. dreaming
  8. loving
Verb
  • This year’s cohort is re-imagining how Africans work together and harness each other’s resources.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Before the show, Anderson spoke repeatedly about cinema, imagining the collection as a cast of characters caught between fantasy and reality.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of imagining
Verb
  • Everyone was chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather, Spiro, a 36-year-old rabbi at Hill Havurah congregation in Washington, recalled.
    — Liam Scott, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The riots comes at a time when France has been enjoying a surge in international production activity, particularly in the South of France.
    — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of enjoying
Verb
  • Thinking that writing code was the only bottleneck for deploying new software is like the Titanic seeing the tip of the iceberg and assuming there was nothing underneath it.
    — Brian Jenney, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Reading a book, a poem, seeing a painting or a sculpture, or even hearing the intro of a song.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of seeing
Verb
  • There’s a difference between liking a certain look and actually identifying with it.
    — Bianca Kratky, Glamour, 27 Oct. 2026
  • There were penalties that hampered a couple drives and a few too many explosive plays surrendered on defense for a second consecutive week for Cristobal’s liking.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of liking
Verb
  • In early 1976, Sidney Gibson tried at least twice to make the balloon a centerpiece of a small summer fair, envisioning thousands of people coming to marvel at and ride in the balloon.
    — Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 21 Oct. 2026
  • In an effort to offer something new — and help secure its permanence — the duo are ramping up Cole’s’ culinary offerings, envisioning a return to the kind of dining that might draw guests downtown.
    — Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of envisioning
Verb
  • But it’s all set up that way to offer guests a wide range of options, and every bite is absolutely worth savoring.
    — Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The festivities kicked off in the town of Tequila with a full day at the Mundo Cuervo Distillery, wandering through agave fields, learning about the historic production process, and savoring lunch in the heart of José Cuervo’s hacienda.
    — Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of savoring
Verb
  • But on Thursday night, Musk showed that there are advantages to dreaming big.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Mage, who grew up in France, went from California dreaming to living the dream.
    — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of dreaming
Verb
  • Beneath that Taylor Swift-loving exterior, there must be a Bin Laden fighting to get out.
    — Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Anderson’s version of the song that put Georgia Satellites on the map is him at his fun-loving best.
    — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of loving

Browse Nearby Words

fancy-free
fancying
fancying up
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fancying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fancying. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All