take the fancy of someone Definition

fancy
noun fancies

1. The imagination.

Thesaurus: imagination, thought, conception, visualization, creation; Antonym: reality.
2. An image, idea or whim.

Thesaurus: thought, idea, notion.
3. A sudden liking or desire for something.

Thesaurus: desire, wish, preference, liking, fondness, urge, hankering, inclination, impulse, caprice, partiality, penchant, predilection; Antonym: dislike.

adj fancier, fanciest

1. Elaborate.

Thesaurus: ornamental, elaborate, ornate, embellished, intricate, rococo, baroque, adorned, florid; ostentatious, gaudy, showy; Antonym: plain.
2. colloq
Special, unusual or superior, especially in quality.
3. colloq, facetious
Said of prices: too high.

verb fancies, fancied, fancying

1. To think or believe something.

Thesaurus: guess, suppose, surmise, infer, think, believe, reckon, conjecture.
2. To have a desire for something.

Thesaurus: desire, yarn for, long for, crave.
3. colloq
To be physically attracted to someone.
Thesaurus: like, be attracted to, desire, yearn for, long for, lust after, go for; Antonym: dislike.
4. To consider likely to win or do well.
tr & intr
5. To take in mentally; to imagine

Example: Fancy him getting married at last!
6. colloq
To think too highly of (oneself).

exclamation

1. Expressing surprise.

Form: fancy that! (also)

Derivative: fanciable
adj

Derivative: fancily
adverb

Idiom: take a fancy to someone or something

To become fond of them or it.

Idiom: take the fancy of someone (tickle the fancy of someone)

To appeal to them; to intrigue or attract them.

Etymology: 15c: shortened from fantasy.