pixie
Americannoun
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pixies
plural
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a fairy or sprite, especially a mischievous one.
-
a small, pert, or mischievous person.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pixie
First recorded in 1620–30; originally dialect (southwestern England) pixy, pigsy, pisky; origin uncertain
Explanation
A pixie is a mythical creature that resembles a mischievous fairy. If you spy some adorable little sprites in green pointed hats sneaking around the woods, you can bet that they're pixies. Pixies appear in folk and fairy tales from the southwest part of England, making minor mischief and dancing in groups. Today a pixie is more or less the same as a fairy or sprite, but older folktales describe conflicts (and even wars) between these groups. The root of the word pixie is a mystery — it may be related to the Swedish dialect pyske, "small fairy," but it's probably rooted in an unknown Celtic word.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A highlight: watching Tinkerbell sprinkle pixie dust on his infant twins during an evening parade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Cardi B sported a range of different hairstyles for her court appearances this week, including a black pixie cut one day and long blonde locks the next.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
Musk’s association with his companies is like market pixie dust, which is why Tesla’s board of directors has bent over backwards to give him money he doesn’t need in an effort to keep him happy.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2025
In the photo, Halsey adorns a spunky pixie haircut and overplucked skinny eyebrows to pay homage to O'Riordan's cherry red short hairdo and overall '00s punk rock aesthetic.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024
At that point in my life I needed to believe that my hated spots looked like magical pixie dust and would not stand in the way of my dream.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
Dominic: It’s a little like when Professor Lockhart released that swarm of Cornish pixies in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”: They’re everywhere and constantly in your face.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 21, 2023
There are bullies, a sly villain, a kidnapping, Irish pixies, a West African protector-spider and classes in Marvellian history, chants and elixirs.
From Washington Post ● May 18, 2022
The work is dizzying, requiring you to constantly look down at your feet and then back at the trees, straining to find creatures that feel as mythical as pixies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2022
The Moors are a wondrous, lush world bursting with glowing flowers, fairies, ogres, pixies and talking tree giants.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 14, 2020
The pixies had taken it all the last time I tried to spin.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
