Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

fairy-tale

adjective \ ˈfer-ē-ˌtāl \

Definition of fairy-tale

: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

Explore M-W

alt-59e900afadac6
The Synonyms 'Discover' and 'Invent'
alt-59e8af1b31525
Trending: NY Times: Trump's Call Ignites 'Imbroglio'
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
tycoon
17 English Words that Come From Japanese

First Known Use of fairy-tale

1904

fairy tale

noun

Definition of fairy tale

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
2 :a made-up story usually designed to mislead
  • an old-fashioned fairy tale depicting revolutionists as demigods
  • —Jonathan Zimmerman

See fairy tale defined for English-language learners

See fairy tale defined for kids

Examples of fairy tale in a Sentence

  1. the fairy tale about the sleeping princess

  2. Everything he told us about his happy marriage was just a fairy tale.

First Known Use of fairy tale

1635

fairy tale Synonyms

Synonyms
fable, fabrication, lie, falsehood, falsity, fib, mendacity, prevarication, story, tale, taradiddle (or tarradiddle), untruth, whopper
Antonyms
truth
Related Words
distortion, exaggeration, half-truth; ambiguity, equivocation, obliquity; defamation, libel, slander; perjury; bluff, fiction, pose, pretense (or pretence); humbug, jive, nonsense; canard, fallacy, misconception, myth; falsification, misinformation, misreport, misrepresentation, misstatement; deceit, deceitfulness, dishonesty, duplicity, fraudulence
Near Antonyms
fact, truism, verity; honesty, truthfulness, veracity; authentication, confirmation, substantiation, validation, verification

FAIRY-TALE Defined for English Language Learners

fairy tale

noun

Definition of fairy tale for English Language Learners

  • : a simple children's story about magical creatures

  • : a false story that is meant to trick people

FAIRY-TALE Defined for Kids

fairy tale

noun

Definition of fairy tale for Students

:a simple children's story about magical creatures

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fairy-tale? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

hew

play

to conform or adhere

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. imbroglio "a public scandal"

  2. spurious of a deceitful nature or quality

  3. righteous We provide an assortment of definitions

  4. Kafkaesque 'A nightmarish quality'

  5. mike "microphone"

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Test Your Vocabulary

The Exceptions Quiz III

  • one-green-toy-robot-amidst-many-red-toy-robots
  • Which of these words does not mean "nonsense"?
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59e900afadac6
The Synonyms 'Discover' and 'Invent'

In the past, you could invent fruit.

alt-59e8c3440f453
I'll Have the Us(ual)

Shortening 'usual': easy to say, hard to spell

alt-59e77dc36c593
The Origins of 'Lobbyist'

From the front hallways to the back rooms

alt-59e673567065d
The History of the Word 'Terrorism'

Noah Webster first entered the term in 1840

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

one-green-toy-robot-amidst-many-red-toy-robots
The Exceptions Quiz III

Which of these things doesn't belong?

Take the quiz
knupfer-painting-solon-before-croesus
Forms of Government Quiz

Name that government! Or something like that.

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game
Examples: fairy-tale in a Sentence