as in elf
an imaginary being usually having a small human form and magical powers
fairies are part of the folklore of many countries and cultures
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as in dreamy
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Recent Examples of fairy
Asia London Palomba, Travel + Leisure, 11 Apr. 2026
Woodland fairies carrying giant daffodils or wearing hats covered in mushrooms.
—Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
Amazon’s garden section is overflowing with illuminating décor, including solar lanterns, LED fairy lights, and even a mini tabletop fire pit that emits a real flame.
—Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
Based on the bestseller by Baek Hee-na, the film captures a live stage performance of the story about a young girl who meets a magical elderly fairy in an old neighborhood bathhouse.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 Mar. 2026
Each of the fairies has a story, a job, a favorite flower and a name that draws on folklore and cultures from around the world.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2026
The most endangered is the New Zealand fairy tern, tara iti, with a population of less than 50, including 10 breeding females.
—Tom Page, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026
According to the History Channel, one legend claims wearing green makes a person invisible to leprechauns — red-bearded fairies that would pinch people who weren’t wearing the color.
—Alexis Simmerman, Austin American Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026
Kenya wears a purple fairy outfit, but the dress is too basic and too matte, and the wings aren’t big enough for real drama.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2026
Noun
At dusk, the area is lit by colorful fairy lights strung between massive mangroves.
—Asia London Palomba, Travel + Leisure, 11 Apr. 2026
Woodland fairies carrying giant daffodils or wearing hats covered in mushrooms.
—Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
Amazon’s garden section is overflowing with illuminating décor, including solar lanterns, LED fairy lights, and even a mini tabletop fire pit that emits a real flame.
—Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
Based on the bestseller by Baek Hee-na, the film captures a live stage performance of the story about a young girl who meets a magical elderly fairy in an old neighborhood bathhouse.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 Mar. 2026
Each of the fairies has a story, a job, a favorite flower and a name that draws on folklore and cultures from around the world.
—Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2026
The most endangered is the New Zealand fairy tern, tara iti, with a population of less than 50, including 10 breeding females.
—Tom Page, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026
According to the History Channel, one legend claims wearing green makes a person invisible to leprechauns — red-bearded fairies that would pinch people who weren’t wearing the color.
—Alexis Simmerman, Austin American Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026
Kenya wears a purple fairy outfit, but the dress is too basic and too matte, and the wings aren’t big enough for real drama.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fairy
Noun
-
The puckish figure draws heavily on Nordic fairy tales, including stories of elves.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Not as great of a kids’ parade as the one at Christmas with elves and Santa Claus and toys and snowmen.—
David McGrath,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
This week, Olivia Rodrigo falls head over heels in a dreamy synth-pop track, Tom Waits returns to music with a brooding, political Massive Attack collaboration, and Tyla and Zara Larsson team up for a sultry pop girl jam.—
Rolling Stone,
Rolling Stone,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Under the Zagros Mountains outside Shiraz, a family of Iranian nomads and their reticent sons investigate the disappearance of twelve sheep while navigating their flock through the modern city of poets in this dreamy documentary.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
And thank the faeries for that.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
29 Aug. 2025
-
The Unseelie Court is the bastion of malevolent faeries who harm humans for their amusement or to exact revenge.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
27 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
When choosing vegetables to plant in containers, look for dwarf or compact varieties.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Regretfully, some plants damaged the most were the colorful dwarf schefflera, crotons, ti plants and similar.—
Tom MacCubbin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In the nearly 50 years since it was released, Faces of Death has become something of a cursed object, the kind of movie that gets traded around on old VHS tapes and spoken about in hushed tones on playgrounds and in video stores.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2026
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Daniel Bernhardt is Deathstalker, a legendary swordsman stuck with a cursed amulet who befriends swamp monsters and teams with a mini wizard (voiced by Patton Oswalt) to stop a dark magic from ruling the land.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This one just happens to involve wizards, goblins, and one savage, half-blind dragon.—
Séamas O'Reilly,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Meet the goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), a predator so rare that fewer than 250 individuals have ever been recorded worldwide.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
In the Village Voice, where the Consumer Guide became one of the fabled alt-weekly’s go-to features from the ’70s through the ’90s, Christgau wrote like a possessed fan who breathed insight, making every capsule sound like a psychedelic sonnet.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
29 Mar. 2026
-
David Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, an opportunistic host who invites a possessed girl and a child psychologist as his guests for the night in a desperate bid for ratings.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The manic pixie American dream girl of this nation's deepest, darkest fantasies.—
Shafiq Najib,
ABC News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Jamie Lee Curtis posed makeup-free while returning to her signature pixie on April 3.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fairy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fairy. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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