fairway

noun

fair·​way ˈfer-ˌwā 

1

a

: a navigable part of a river, bay, or harbor

b

: an open path or space

2

: the closely mowed part of a golf course between a tee and a green

Examples of fairway in a Sentence

Her shot landed at the left side of the fairway.

Recent Examples on the Web

Yes, plugging in the rough off the fairway, moving your ball for a way out of tree trouble and taking gimmie putts does mask one’s real ability. — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

For a cold moment the silence locked a grip on our table, though it was broken, at the edges, by the golf commentators moaning and harrumphing, Rory McIlroy having had a canary on a seventeenth fairway somewhere this championship Sunday. — Kevin Barry, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026

Wright, in the group ahead, pulled his approach from a fairway bunker into the seaside vegetation down the left of the 18th, eventually making a double bogey. — ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026

During a site visit to Kansas City as a potential permanent home, GCSAA officials visited Lawrence’s Alvamar Golf Club (now named Jayhawk Club), the first course in the world with Zoysia fairways. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for fairway

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• assez
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway

Kids Definition

fairway

noun

fair·​way ˈfa(ə)r-ˌwā 

ˈfe(ə)r-

: the mowed part of a golf course between a tee and a green