one of a large group of beautiful, fairylike beings of Persian mythology, represented as descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until their penance is accomplished.
any lovely, graceful person.
enclosing, encircling, or around
pericardium
pericarp
perigon
near or adjacent
perihelion
(in Persian folklore) one of a race of beautiful supernatural beings
any beautiful fairy-like creature
1770–80; < Persian perī, variant of parī fairy, Middle Persian parīk, Avestan pairikā witch
< Greek, prefixal use of perí (adv. and preposition)
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Free roaming cats also prey on European mantises, which are already under pressure from competition with the invasive newcomers and are declining in many peri urban environments.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Since the Johannesburg-based restaurant chain opened its first store in London in 1992, its signature peri peri chicken has enamored British consumers’ appetites.
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2021
The South African chain, famous for its peri peri sauce, operates more than 400 restaurants across the UK.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2021
Lucy Crowe brought ravishing brilliance to the peri.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2018
She lingered behind her companion, gazing wistfully in—a poor, empty-handed peri at the gates of Paradise.
From Fan : the story of a young girl's life by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)
French journalist Peri Cochin organised the raffle with backing from Picasso's family and foundation.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
“Entertainment collaborations are one way to break through all the noise,” said Peri Edelstein, who leads Boston Consulting Group’s North America consumer practice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
Still, “refugees are one of the cleanest and clearest immigrant economic success stories,” said Giovanni Peri, a professor of economics at the University of California, Davis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025
“We’ll lose almost a million working-age Americans every year in the next decade just because of aging,” Peri told me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2025
In 1597, their first semi-collaborative attempt at this new form, which they called ‘drama through music’, was a piece called Dafhe, with music by one of their number, Jacopo Peri.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Gwyneth Paltrow, who turns 50 today, staked her menopausal claim years ago with Madame Ovary, a “supplemental protocol” designed to relieve peri- and menopausal symptoms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
According to a recent study, about 27 million members of the American workforce are peri- or fully menopausal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
One of the largest demographics in America is women in their forties to sixties, and by 2020 there will be nearly 60 million peri- and post-menopausal women living in the United States.
From Time ● Apr. 3, 2015
The body of man in all partes at cōcord, euery part executing his func- cion & office, florisheth, and in strength prospereth, otherwise The bodie of man without concord of the partes, peri- sheth.
From A booke called the Foundacion of Rhetorike because all other partes of Rhetorike are grounded thereupon, euery parte sette forthe in an Oracion vpon questions, verie profitable to bee knowen and redde by Rainolde, Richard
Less common complications are jaundice, peri- and endo-carditis, meningitis, local and general paralyses, cancrum oris, a diffuse cellular inflammation ending in purulent infiltration, and inflammatory swellings of the glands, or buboes.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Camouflaged by rainbows, skylarks, fairies, peris, sensitive plants and Epipsychidions, there was no more successful softener than Sapper Shelley.
From Time Magazine Archive
Such words as "blastoderm", "sindoc," "peris," "parasang," "sarcenet," "teazel," "nullah," "cantatrice," "barracan," "sistrum," writhed and hissed in her verses.
From Time Magazine Archive
Are the peris* come down from their spheres?
From Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story; Vathek, an Arabian Tale by Beckford, William
"Do peris at the gates of Eden DINE?"
From The Cardinal's Snuff-Box by Harland, Henry
The term ginn being common to both peris and dives, some have erroneously fancied that the peris were female dives.
From Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story; Vathek, an Arabian Tale by Beckford, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
