fairy tales

Noun

fairy tale (plural fairy tales)

1. A folktale or literary story featuring fairies or similar fantasy characters.
   • I used to love reading fairy tales when I was a child.
2. (uncountable) The literary genre of these stories.
   • Their dresses were rich, and when they came bounding forward, their shapes of silver tissue, with their feathered diadems and faces of animated beauty, they might be imagined into scarcely less than the creations of fairy tale.1819 February 27, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, page 4, column 3
3. (figuratively) A fabricated or misleading account meant to deceive, such as an exaggerated excuse.
   • He's telling us another fairy tale about how great the software will be.
4. (figuratively) A delightful and ideal situation of a kind attained by very few.
   • I've been living in a fairy tale since I met Joe.