: 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
Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 20 June 2025
Turning it into a venue only took 48 hours — a fairy-tale ending.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 18 June 2025
Brian Boone, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Others bring friends - or their kids (there’s even a kids programme including fairy tale readings).
—Nel-Olivia Waga, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for fairy-tale
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Adjective
Despite being about the military-industrial complex, Maverick plays like a parable—to the point where internet theories about the final two acts of the film being a dream are at least in keeping with the story’s oddly fairy-tale texture.
—Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 20 June 2025
Turning it into a venue only took 48 hours — a fairy-tale ending.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 18 June 2025
Noun
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973) $11 The 1987 movie is universally beloved, but the funny and often brutal fairy tale is just a part of the original novel, a complex work of metafiction.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Others bring friends - or their kids (there’s even a kids programme including fairy tale readings).
—Nel-Olivia Waga, Forbes.com, 17 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 9 Jul. 2025.
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