tickles your fancy

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiominformal

   If something tickles your fancy, it seems appealing or interesting to you at that moment.

   Grammar: Used with a possessive word before 'fancy': it tickles my fancy, does it tickle your fancy?

   Patterns

   • something tickles someone's fancy
   • if something tickles your fancy
   • nothing tickles someone's fancy

   None of the movies on the list really tickled my fancy, so we stayed home.

   If any of these desserts tickles your fancy, just help yourself.

   The idea of a week by the sea tickled her fancy more than a city break.

2. 2phrasefixed phraseinformal

   Used in questions and offers to ask whether someone would like something.

   Grammar: Very common as 'Does ... tickle your fancy?' when offering a choice.

   Patterns

   • does something tickle your fancy?
   • would something tickle your fancy?

   We have tea, coffee, or juice — does any of that tickle your fancy?

   Would a walk along the river tickle your fancy this afternoon?

Common combinations

tickle someone's fancy

The bright red one tickled my fancy straight away.

if something tickles your fancy

If the museum tickles your fancy, we can go tomorrow.

does that tickle your fancy?

There's a jazz club tonight — does that tickle your fancy?

nothing tickles someone's fancy

Nothing on the menu tickled his fancy, so he ordered plain rice.

really tickle someone's fancy

That old cottage really tickled their fancy.

Synonyms and how they differ

appeal to someone

Neutral in register and works in formal writing, where 'tickle your fancy' would sound too casual.

take someone's fancy

British and very close in meaning, but it describes the thing attracting you rather than the feeling it gives you.

be to someone's liking

More formal and suggests suitability rather than sudden interest.

Opposites

Word family

fancy verb

To want or like something, as in 'Do you fancy a coffee?'

fanciful adjective

Imagined rather than real; not related in meaning to this idiom.

Commonly confused: tickles your fancy or tickle? tickles your fancy or fancy?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “tickles your fancy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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