airy-fairy
[ air-ee-fair-ee ]
/ ˈɛər iˈfɛər i /
adjective
Informal.
- delicate or lovely: an airy-fairy actress; an airy-fairy nightgown.
- not based on reality or concerned with mundane affairs; unrealistic: airy-fairy ideas about spending a fortune that isn't even his.
Slang. effeminate; swishy.
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Origin of airy-fairy
perhaps originally in the phrase “airy, fairy Lilian” in Tennyson's poem “Lilian” (1830)
Words nearby airy-fairy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for airy-fairy
Nothing of the tootsey-wootsey about her foot, and nothing of the airy-fairy trifle about her slipper.
Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son|George Horace LorimerThere is nothing more beautiful than the airy-fairy soap-bubble with its everchanging colors.
How Two Boys Made Their Own Electrical Apparatus|Thomas M. (Thomas Matthew) St. John
British Dictionary definitions for airy-fairy
airy-fairy
/ (ˈɛərɪˈfɛərɪ) /
adjective
informal fanciful and unrealistican airy-fairy scheme
delicate to the point of being insubstantial; light
Word Origin for airy-fairy
C19: from Tennyson's poem Lillian (1830), where the central figure is described as "Airy, fairy Lillian"
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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