fairy tale

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fairy tale ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a story, usually for children, about elves, hobgoblins, dragons, fairies, or other magical creatures.

an incredible or misleading statement, account, or belief: His story of being a millionaire is just a fairy tale.

Origin of fairy tale

First recorded in 1740–50

Also called fairy story.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fairy-tale

exotic, whimsical, glamorous, amorous, fascinating, colorful, exciting, fantastic, charming, dreamy, tender, erotic, fanciful, maudlin, corny, mysterious, nostalgic, passionate, adventurous, utopian

Examples from the Web for fairy-tale

Contemporary Examples of fairy-tale

Were the fairy-tale true it really would shame the affluent west.
The Dark Side of Cuba’s Ebola Economy
James Bloodworth
December 9, 2014
The first tradition, in fairy-tale terms, is the villain tradition.
Alleged Santa Barbara Killer Elliot Rodger and the Twisted Cult of Modern Masculinity
James Poulos
May 26, 2014
The story of Singh and Patel is a heartwarming one, and perfectly fits into the mold of a fairy-tale Disney sports film.
The Aftermath of Disney’s ‘Million Dollar Arm’
Alex Suskind
May 16, 2014
Bernheimer is a well-known American fairy-tale writer, and Hunt is the editor of the Denver Quarterly.
An Edward Hopper Novel?
The Daily Beast
April 18, 2014
Then she suffers a fairy-tale rescue at the hands of an aunt.
Is Henry James’s ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ the Great American Novel?
Michael Gorra
August 30, 2012

Historical Examples of fairy-tale

The tale of the resources of California—vegetable and mineral—is a fairy-tale.
American Notes
Rudyard Kipling
Our fairy-tale presents these events in their legendary transformation.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various
Thrones tumble down and crowns are offered like a fairy-tale.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume II
Mrs. Humphry Ward
He must have seemed to her a figure of romance, a prince out of a fairy-tale.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second Series
Rafael Sabatini
The value of the fairy-tale and the wonder-tale is that they tell about the magic of living.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for fairy-tale

fairy-tale

adjective

of or relating to a fairy tale

resembling a fairy tale, esp in being extremely happy or fortunatea true story with a fairy-tale ending

highly improbablehe came out with a fairy-tale account of his achievements

fairy tale

fairy story

noun

a story about fairies or other mythical or magical beings, esp one of traditional origin told to children

a highly improbable account

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

Word Origin and History for fairy-tale

fairy tale

"oral narrative centered on magical tests, quests, and transformations," 1749, translating French Conte de feés of Madame d'Aulnois (1698, translated into English 1699). As an adjective (also fairytale), attested by 1963.