Word.ws English Dictionary

off with the fairies

off with the fairies is the alternative form of away with the fairies.

Meaning of away with the fairies

Adjective

away with the fairies (not comparable)

  1. (idiomatic) Not all there; slightly crazy.
    • Now, I know the story is away with the fairies, but he produces a body and I take him down to the station to talk to the detectives.2000, Peter Watt, Cry of the Curlew
  2. (idiomatic) Synonym of lost in thought; distracted or daydreaming.
    • Goodness, you were away with the fairies then! Did you hear me? I asked if you wanted another cup of tea?2012, Hannah Richell, Secrets of the Tides, →ISBN, page 106
    Synonyms:
    lost in thought
  3. (idiomatic) Fast asleep.

Questions about off with the fairies

What is off with the fairies the alternative form of?
Off with the fairies is the alternative form of away with the fairies.

Words near off with the fairies in the dictionary

  1. off vocal
  2. off vocals
  3. off white
  4. off wiki
  5. off with someone's head
  6. off with the fairies
  7. off with their head
  8. off worlder
  9. off worlders
  10. off year
  11. off years

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: off with the fairies (page history and authors); away with the fairies (page history and authors). 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.

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