fairy
(in folklore) one of a class of supernatural beings, generally conceived as having a diminutive human form and possessing magical powers with which they intervene in human affairs.
Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.
Origin of fairy
1synonym study For fairy
A brownie, by contrast, is a good-natured tiny being who appears usually at night to do household tasks: Perhaps the brownies will come and mow the lawn tonight. Elf suggests a young, mischievous or roguish fairy: That child is a perfect little elf. Sprite suggests a fairy of pleasing appearance, older than an elf, to be admired for ease and lightness of movement; it may, however, be impish or even hostile: a dainty sprite.
Other words for fairy
Words Nearby fairy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fairy in a sentence
The fairy godmother is a magical stretch, but massive pumpkins are very real.
Here’s how giant pumpkins get so big | Bethany Brookshire | October 28, 2020 | Science News For StudentsIn our book, we introduce the “Switch Witch,” who comes at night to exchange excess candy for a small gift, kind of like the tooth fairy for Halloween.
Feeling Scared About How Your Kids Can Enjoy Halloween This Year? Have No Fear – Healthy Snacks Are Here | LGBTQ-Editor | October 27, 2020 | No Straight NewsTo be fair, before Western mermaids were made all cute by fairy tales and Disney they were feared for leading sailors to certain doom.
For a long time now, such experiences have been considered not very reliable, certainly unscientific, and, if valid at all, deeply steeped in that pleasant state of mind known to us from fairy tales, novels, and poems.
What the Meadow Teaches Us - Issue 90: Something Green | Andreas Weber | September 16, 2020 | NautilusBecause in many ways that feels like the ultimate dream, it almost feels like a fairy tale, honestly.
Tan France Goes Deep on Racism and When He Almost Quit ‘Queer Eye’ | Eugene Robinson | September 3, 2020 | Ozy
But when the darkness closes in, we actually run to fairy tales and fables.
Actually, rather like Gruber, we feel rather icky about fairy tales.
Not that the demonstration had anything to do with this couple, whom Sarah seems to see as a fairy tale come to life.
Were the fairy-tale true it really would shame the affluent west.
In reality, prison weddings look nothing like the fairy tales depicted on TV and in bridal magazines.
The tailor of the fairy tale with his "seven at a blow" is not in it with the gunnery Lieutenant of a battleship.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonThe Elizabethan pipes were so small that now when they are dug up in Ireland the poor call them 'fairy pipes' from their tininess.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.Spenser in his fairy Queen makes one of the characters include it with other herbs celebrated for medicinal qualities.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.She had just come to forty-nine, and was wondering if she might remind the fairy father of his duty, when the door opened.
Rosemary in Search of a Father | C. N. WilliamsonMany years ago I collected together a large number of these 'fairy Pipes' from all parts of the kingdom.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
British Dictionary definitions for fairy
/ (ˈfɛərɪ) /
an imaginary supernatural being, usually represented in diminutive human form and characterized as clever, playful, and having magical powers
slang a male homosexual
away with the fairies informal out of touch with reality
of or relating to a fairy or fairies
resembling a fairy or fairies, esp in being enchanted or delicate
Origin of fairy
1Derived forms of fairy
- fairy-like, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with fairy
In addition to the idiom beginning with fairy
- fairy godmother
also see:
- tooth fairy
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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