pixie
Americannoun
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pixies
plural
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a fairy or sprite, especially a mischievous one.
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a small, pert, or mischievous person.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pixie
First recorded in 1620–30; originally dialect (southwestern England) pixy, pigsy, pisky; origin uncertain
Explanation
A pixie is a mythical creature that resembles a mischievous fairy. If you spy some adorable little sprites in green pointed hats sneaking around the woods, you can bet that they're pixies. Pixies appear in folk and fairy tales from the southwest part of England, making minor mischief and dancing in groups. Today a pixie is more or less the same as a fairy or sprite, but older folktales describe conflicts (and even wars) between these groups. The root of the word pixie is a mystery — it may be related to the Swedish dialect pyske, "small fairy," but it's probably rooted in an unknown Celtic word.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Seberg’s haircut in the original film, a super-short, blond pixie cut, rewrote fashion trends around the world and encapsulated a spirit of youthful, diffident insouciance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
A small, hunched New Jersey woman named Frankie with intense eyes and a severe pixie cut is the central protagonist of the low-budget mystery “Gazer,” from first-time feature director Ryan J. Sloan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025
In the photo, Halsey adorns a spunky pixie haircut and overplucked skinny eyebrows to pay homage to O'Riordan's cherry red short hairdo and overall '00s punk rock aesthetic.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024
During chemotherapy, Jenna said she lost her hair and shared a photo on Instagram of her "patchy pixie" cut as it grew back.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2024
The other girl had a dark pixie cut growing out, a single braid plaited next to her ear.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
Dominic: It’s a little like when Professor Lockhart released that swarm of Cornish pixies in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”: They’re everywhere and constantly in your face.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 21, 2023
Many of his clients have come seeking dramatically short cuts — shags, pixies and razored bobs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2022
The Moors are a wondrous, lush world bursting with glowing flowers, fairies, ogres, pixies and talking tree giants.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 14, 2020
"It's scarcely worth having a name for. I don't have a name for not believing in pixies."
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2019
Finally, he tied me at the elbows, which was probably the only place the pixies didn’t bite.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
