fey

American  

[fey] / feɪ /

adjective

1. British Dialect. doomed; fated to die.

2. Chiefly Scot. appearing to be under a spell; marked by an apprehension of death, calamity, or evil.

3. supernatural; unreal; enchanted.

   elves, fairies, and other fey creatures.

4. being in unnaturally high spirits, as were formerly thought to precede death.

5. whimsical; strange; otherworldly.

   a strange child with a mysterious smile and a fey manner.

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fey British  

/ feɪ /

adjective

1. interested in or believing in the supernatural

2. attuned to the supernatural; clairvoyant; visionary

3. fated to die; doomed

4. in a state of high spirits or unusual excitement, formerly believed to presage death

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Other Word Forms

• feyness noun

Etymology

Origin of fey

before 900; Middle English; Old English fǣge doomed to die; cognate with Old Norse feigr doomed, German feig cowardly

Example Sentences

Christopher Mowod can’t quite endow this “sad man in a blanket,” as Simon dubs his bundled-up bandmate, with the same level of fey madness that Brill was able to entertainingly supply.

From Los Angeles Times

But she complemented the Welsh actor who "brings a furious fey playfulness and vulnerability" to his character.

From BBC

Adding to this fey lyricism are Lovelace’s formal choices, including the quasi-Cubist fracturing of each scene into four equal squares that don’t quite align.

From New York Times

While Maren and Lee share the same fey temperament and just-agonized-enough ethics, another secret sharer she meets along the way — a menacing vagabond named Sully, overplayed by Mark Rylance — has no such compunctions.

From Washington Post

The house Stoppard shares with his third wife, the charming Sabrina Guinness, is exactly what you would expect: elegant, erudite, fey and library-quiet.

From New York Times

Related Words

• elfin
• elfish
• fairylike