airy-fairy

[ air-ee-fair-ee ]

adjective
  1. Informal. delicate or lovely: an airy-fairy actress;an airy-fairy nightgown.

  2. Informal. not based on reality or concerned with mundane affairs; unrealistic: He'd better get rid of those airy-fairy ideas about spending a fortune that isn't even his.

  1. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. effeminate.

Origin of airy-fairy

1
First recorded in 1830–40, perhaps originally in the phrase “airy, fairy Lilian” in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem “Lilian” (1830)

Words Nearby airy-fairy

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How to use airy-fairy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for airy-fairy

airy-fairy

/ (ˈɛərɪˈfɛərɪ) /


adjective
  1. informal fanciful and unrealistic: an airy-fairy scheme

  2. delicate to the point of being insubstantial; light

Origin of airy-fairy

1
C19: from Tennyson's poem Lillian (1830), where the central figure is described as "Airy, fairy Lillian"

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