Word
fancies
Phoneticsfan·cies
US/ˈfænsiz/
UK/fˈænsɪz/
Definition
v. to imagine or believe something is true, even if it might not be. You use this when someone thinks they are better or more important than they really are.
v. to imagine or believe something to be the case, often without a firm basis in reality. In this third-person singular form, it frequently appears in the idiom 'fancies himself/herself' to describe an inflated sense of one's own abilities or status.
Examples
“He fancies himself a great singer, but he is often off-key.”
“She fancies that the neighbors are talking about her, though they rarely even see her.”
“The young architect fancies himself the successor to the great modernists, despite having only completed a handful of small residential renovations in the suburbs.”
Examples
simple
“He fancies himself a great singer, but he is often off-key.”
contextual
“She fancies that the neighbors are talking about her, though they rarely even see her.”
complex
“The young architect fancies himself the successor to the great modernists, despite having only completed a handful of small residential renovations in the suburbs.”
Usage
The verb is transitive; when used to describe self-image, it requires a reflexive pronoun followed by a noun or adjective.
Pitfall
He fancies to be a chef
He fancies himself a chef
When expressing a self-conception, this verb takes a reflexive pronoun and a complement rather than an infinitive.