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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
  • There are a lot of entry points to it and there's almost a theatrical tradition to it where people keep reinterpreting and re-imagining her story.
    — Kalia Richardson, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Also in Toronto, Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder pulls a similar trick, re-imagining the late Patricia Highsmith as a scheming host played by Helen Mirren.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of imagining
Verb
  • Not even a tremendously good TikTok from Whitney Leavitt could save her husband from elimination when facing the late-night-TV-enjoying population.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Faisal Bashir | Lightrocket | Getty Images BEIJING — China's artificial intelligence models may be enjoying rapid adoption but that isn't yet translating into revenue, raising questions about company valuations.
    — Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of enjoying
Verb
  • While Germany is again seeing moderate growth, the labor market deteriorated last year.
    — Anna Noryskiewicz, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Since no one reported seeing any suspicious individuals entering or leaving the Borden property that morning, police were led to believe the killer must have already been inside the home.
    — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of seeing
Verb
  • For anyone considering the field, Carpenter emphasizes that success is about more than simply liking babies.
    — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 14 Sep. 2026
  • For now, however, what the numbers actually show is a world adjusting to the new reality of great-power competition, feeling forced to choose one side without the luxury of liking it.
    — Adam Y. Liu, Foreign Affairs, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of liking
Verb
  • The exterior might have many fans envisioning the famous taxi cab pulling up to the house, as depicted in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s opening credits.
    — Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The Olmsted Brothers completed plans for it in 1906, envisioning its broad landscaped median as an extension of Baltimore’s park system connecting major green spaces.
    — Lawrence Bell, Baltimore Sun, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of envisioning
Verb
  • Today, John Moffitt is running a growing, successful business, raising a young daughter, savoring the good days when things run smoothly, working through the days when the wireless gives out, or ingredients run out before the customers do.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 6 Sep. 2026
  • This leaves plenty of funds to spend on exploring some of the city’s most eclectic neighborhoods, savoring the culinary scene, wandering through world-class museums, and shopping at chic boutiques and galleries.
    — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of savoring
Verb
  • Critical to healthy brain functioning is a dreaming state of unconsciousness called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.
    — Mike McRae September 17, New Atlas, 17 Sep. 2026
  • That’s almost eight months of talking, worrying and dreaming about the Bears.
    — Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of dreaming
Verb
  • For over a week now, my editor and I have been incensed about the Dodgers — and not in a fun, baseball-loving way.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
  • People are loving his new addition to the Resident Evil film canon.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 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 20 Sep. 2026.

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