: characteristic of or suitable to a fairy tale
especially
: marked by seemingly unreal beauty, perfection, luck, or happiness
led a fairy-tale life
a store clerk's fairy-tale romance
1
a
: a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (such as fairies, wizards, and goblins)
enjoyed the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid"
called also fairy story
b
: a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending
those balletic fairy tales in which a new corps member steps in for an injured principal at the last minute and delivers a splendid performance—
Margaret Willis
Margaret Willis2
: a made-up story usually designed to mislead
an old-fashioned fairy tale depicting revolutionists as demigods—Jonathan Zimmerman
Jonathan ZimmermanExamples of fairy-tale in a Sentence
Noun
the fairy tale about the sleeping princess
Everything he told us about his happy marriage was just a fairy tale.
Recent Examples on the Web
Chrissie McClatchie, Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2025
Also two of the tycoon’s grandchildren, little fairy-tale blondies just made to be eaten.
—David Denby, Vulture, 3 July 2025
Literary Hub
july 1, Literary Hub, 1 July 2025
To pretend a Squid Game victory could be anything but pyrrhic would be to accept a fairy tale written by the worst people on the planet.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for fairy-tale
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Adjective
It's capped at 50 people per session, but a second property opening in a similarly fairy-tale French setting, in the Ariège region of southwest France, in 2026 will hopefully ease some of the pressure on the waitlist.
—Chrissie McClatchie, Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2025
Also two of the tycoon’s grandchildren, little fairy-tale blondies just made to be eaten.
—David Denby, Vulture, 3 July 2025
Noun
As a child, Carrington was raised on fairy tales in an English manor house and as an adult was caught, tragically at times, in the upheaval of WWII Europe and in the constant company of Surrealists.
—Literary Hub
july 1, Literary Hub, 1 July 2025
To pretend a Squid Game victory could be anything but pyrrhic would be to accept a fairy tale written by the worst people on the planet.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for fairy-tale
Cite this Entry
“Fairy-tale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairy-tale. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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