Word
fancied
Phoneticsfan·cied
US/ˈfænsid/
UK/fˈænsɪd/
Definition
adj. describes someone or something that people expect to win a competition or be successful.
adj. regarded with favour or widely expected to achieve success in a specific contest or endeavour. Often used in the context of competitive sports or betting.
Examples
“The fancied team lost the game in the final minute.”
“Despite being the most fancied runner in the race, he finished in third place after a poor start.”
“The heavily fancied candidate struggled to maintain her lead as the debate shifted toward economic policies where her opponents held more popular positions.”
Examples
simple
“The fancied team lost the game in the final minute.”
contextual
“Despite being the most fancied runner in the race, he finished in third place after a poor start.”
complex
“The heavily fancied candidate struggled to maintain her lead as the debate shifted toward economic policies where her opponents held more popular positions.”
Usage
Typically used attributively before the noun it modifies; often paired with intensifiers like 'highly' or 'heavily'.
Real-World Examples
“England will be heavily fancied to progress to next summer’s finals in Brazil.” “By way of a last resort, he then asked Gledhill whether she fancied “trying something a little bit different” – and The Delightful Sausage came into being.” Etymology
From fancy (“to have a fancy for, like; to imagine, suppose”) + -ed.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fancied