fairy

UK/ˈfɛəɹi/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

General South African/ˈfeːɹiː/

fairy noun: a mythical being of human form with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although typically depicted as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, especially one that is female. Fairies are revered in some modern forms of paganism.

Image: Sophie Gengembre Anderson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)

A mythical being of human form with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although typically depicted as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, especially one that is female. Fairies are revered in some modern forms of paganism.
- But for a dreſſing for her head
  I thinke for her I haue a Tyer,
  That all Fayryes ſhall admyre.1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, Lately diſcouered, by a New Way over Parnassvs, London: Thomas Harper, page 67
- "They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 51
(derogatory, slang) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.

Synonyms:

fag, faggot, poof
(derogatory, slang) An effeminate man or boy.
- The cripple returned the smile and stuck out his hand. Miss Lonelyhearts clasped it, and they stood this way, smiling and holding hands, until Mrs. Doyle reëntered the room.
  "What a sweet pair of fairies you guys are," she said.
  The cripple pulled his hand away and made as though to strike his wife.1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' : [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]
- We saw a horrible sight in the bar: a white hipster fairy had come in wearing a Hawaiian shirt and was asking the big drummer if he could sit in.1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 4, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 3
(colloquial) An attractive young woman; a small, graceful woman.
- "When are we going to see this fairy?" demanded Algy.
  "You, personally, never. You're far too immoral. I might let the others look at her from a distance in a year or two."1920, H. C. McNeile "Snapper", 'Bulldog Drummond'
- As she took out her key she was quite unaware that three pairs of eyes were watching her with interest from across the street. [...]
  ‘Strewth–’e ain’t ’arf got a fairy this time,’ remarked the husky Mr. Clegg.1942, Dennis Wheatley, 'Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts'
An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.

Synonyms:

fay, fey, fae, sprite, goblin
A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.
A legendary Chinese immortal.

Synonyms:

xian, immortal
(obsolete, uncountable) The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
- Which is sixteen leagues long, but is so full of Fairie and strange things that few people pass there without being lost or stopt, because therewithin dwelleth a king, Oberon the Fay.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 61
- These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in the land of Fairy.1890, Joseph Jacobs, “Childe Rowland”, in English Fairy Tales, page 120
(obsolete, uncountable) The land or region inhabited by fairies; fairyland.
- Beſides he's deft and wondrous Ayrye,
  And of the nobleſt of the Fayry,
  Chiefe of the Crickets of much fame,
  In Fayry a most ancient name.1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, Lately diſcouered, by a New Way over Parnassvs, London: Thomas Harper, page 67
(obsolete) Fairies considered collectively; fairy folk.
- Beſides he's deft and wondrous Ayrye,
  And of the nobleſt of the Fayry,
  Chiefe of the Crickets of much fame,
  In Fayry a most ancient name.1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, Lately diſcouered, by a New Way over Parnassvs, London: Thomas Harper, page 67
- So lov'd thy name, that, at their monarch's choice
  All Fairy ſhouted with a general voice.1748, Thomas Tickell, A Collection of Poems in Three Volumes. By Several Hands, volume I, London: J. Hughs, page 52

Adjective

fairy (comparative more fairy, superlative most fairy)

Like a fairy; fanciful, whimsical, delicate.

fairy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

fairy in Hindi

mythical being: परी parī, अप्सरा apsarā

fairy in Tamil

தேவதை

fairy in Marathi

mythical being: परी parī

fairy in Urdu

mythical being: پری parī

More languagesFewer languages

fairy in Bengali: পরী pori
fairy in Telugu: దివ్యభామ divyabhāma
fairy in Malayalam: പാപ്പാത്തി, അപ്സരസ്സ്, അതിസുന്ദരി
fairy in Kannada: ಫೆಯರಿ
fairy in Odia: ପରୀ
fairy in Sanskrit: विद्याधरी vidyādharī
fairy in Nepali: परी, फेयरी
fairy in Pashto: پري parí
fairy in Tagalog: ada, diwata
fairy in Arabic: جِنِّيَّة jinniyya, سَاحِرَة sāḥira
fairy in Malay: pari-pari, pepari
fairy in Indonesian: peri
fairy in Persian: پری pari
fairy in Thai: นางฟ้า naang-fáa, เทพธิดา têep-tí-daa
fairy in Vietnamese: tiên nữ, nàng tiên, yêu tinh
Kashmiri: پری prī

Examples of fairy in a sentence

Johnny lost a tooth, but kept it for the tooth fairy.
The little fairy flew home on the back of her friend, the giant eagle.
I used to love reading fairy tales when I was a child.

All 40 example sentences with fairy

Synonyms of fairy

All synonyms of fairy

Forms of fairy

Noun
plural	fairies
alternative form	faery
alternative form	faëry
alternative form	faerie
alternative form	faërie
alternative form	fairie
alternative form (nonstandard, archaic)	færie
alternative form (obsolete)	fayry
Adjective
comparative	more fairy
superlative	most fairy

Plural of fairy: fairies

Origin of fairy

From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae (from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”)) + -erie. Equivalent to fay + -ry. Attested in English from about 1330, in King Alisaunder, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" ("that thou herdest is fairye") and shortly thereafter "realm of the fays, fairy-land" and "the inhabitants of fairyland, collectively". The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but became common only in the 16th century, perhaps due to reinterpreting phrases like faerie knight.

Phrases with fairy

96 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with fairy

19 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about fairy

What does fairy mean?: Fairy means a mythical being of human form with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although typically depicted as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, especially one that is female. Fairies are revered in some modern forms of paganism.
What is fairy in Hindi?: Fairy in Hindi is परी (parī), अप्सरा (apsarā). See Fairy meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is fairy?: Fairy can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce fairy?: Fairy is pronounced /ˈfɛəɹi/ (UK).
What is the plural of fairy?: The plural of fairy is fairies.

Words near fairy in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: fairy (page history and authors); fairy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); దివ్యభామ (Telugu) (page history and authors); fairy (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fairy (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); fairy (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); fairy (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-fairy.ogg.

Cite this entry: “fairy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fairy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.