fanciful

  • 1Fanciful — Fan ci*ful, a. 1. Full of fancy; guided by fancy, rather than by reason and experience; whimsical; as, a fanciful man forms visionary projects. [1913 Webster] 2. Conceived in the fancy; not consistent with facts or reason; abounding in ideal… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2fanciful — [fan′sə fəl] adj. 1. full of fancy; indulging in fancies; imaginative in a playful way; whimsical 2. created in the fancy; imaginary; not real [a fanciful tale] 3. showing fancy in construction or design; quaint; odd [fanciful costumes]… …

    English World dictionary

  • 3fanciful — index arbitrary, arbitrary and capricious, capricious, delusive, fictitious, ill founded, illusory, insubstantial …

    Law dictionary

  • 4fanciful — 1620s, from FANCY (Cf. fancy) + FUL (Cf. ful). Related: Fancifully …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5fanciful — imaginary, visionary, fantastic, chimerical, quixotic Analogous words: *fictitious, fabulous, mythical, apocryphal, legendary: bizarre, grotesque, *fantastic: preposterous, absurd (see FOOLISH): *false, wrong Antonyms: realistic Contrasted words …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 6fanciful — [adj] imaginary, romantic absurd, aerial, bizarre, blue sky*, capricious, castles in the air*, chimerical, curious, dreamlike, extravagant, fabulous, fairy tale, fancied, fantastic, fantastical, fictional, fictitious, fictive, flaky*, floating,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 7fanciful — ► ADJECTIVE 1) over imaginative and unrealistic. 2) existing only in the imagination. 3) highly ornamental or imaginative in design. DERIVATIVES fancifully adverb fancifulness noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8fanciful — [[t]fæ̱nsɪfʊl[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you describe an idea as fanciful, you disapprove of it because you think it comes from someone s imagination, and is therefore unrealistic or unlikely to be true. ...fanciful ideas about Martian… …

    English dictionary

  • 9fanciful — adjective Date: circa 1627 1. marked by fancy or unrestrained imagination rather than by reason and experience < a fanciful person > 2. existing in fancy only < a fanciful notion > 3. marked by or as if by fancy or whim < gave their children&#8230; …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 10fanciful — fancifully, adv. fancifulness, n. /fan si feuhl/, adj. 1. characterized by or showing fancy; capricious or whimsical in appearance: a fanciful design of butterflies and flowers. 2. suggested by fancy; imaginary; unreal: fanciful lands of romance …

    Universalium