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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

fairy.

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.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈfɛəɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈfeːɹiː/General-South-African/ˈfeːɹi/Australia/ˈfɛə̯ɹi/
  1. 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.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.

    countable · derogatory · slang · uncountable
  3. An effeminate man or boy.

    countable · derogatory · slang · uncountable
  4. An attractive young woman; a small, graceful woman.

    colloquial · countable · uncountable
  5. An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.

    countable · uncountable
  6. A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.

    countable · uncountable
  7. A legendary Chinese immortal.

    countable · uncountable
  8. The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.

    obsolete · uncountable
  9. The land or region inhabited by fairies; fairyland.

    obsolete · uncountable
  10. Fairies considered collectively; fairy folk.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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.

adj/ˈfɛəɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈfeːɹiː/General-South-African/ˈfeːɹi/Australia/ˈfɛə̯ɹi/
  1. Like a fairy; fanciful, whimsical, delicate.

Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.