fay 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of faynext
as in playful
given to good-natured joking or teasing with her slight build and perky manner, the actress was usually cast as the fay young woman who charms all the men in town

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

fay

2 of 2

noun

as in fairy
an imaginary being usually having a small human form and magical powers in the tale a fay appears in the form of a beautiful and serene woman with an angelic air and a billowy gown

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fay
Noun
The series stars McGregor as Count Rostov, a fay member of Czarist Russia’s ruling class, who was living in comfort in his estates until the revolution of 1917 overthrew the old order. — Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025 Almshouse dwellers, sitting in the sun, watching the surging tide and the glistening water, tell of spirits and banshees and fays. — Alexander Sammon, Harper's Magazine, 25 June 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fay
  1. playful
  2. fairy
  3. merry
  4. elf
  5. faerie
  6. goblin
  7. dwarf
Adjective
  • The stone in the shower had an almost iridescent quality to it, reminiscent of a seashell, a playful nod to Maui’s beaches.
    — Ronee Uyeshiro, Travel + Leisure, 26 July 2026
  • Pieces that are personal, playful, and don’t quite match are the ones that make a room or an outfit unmistakably one’s own.
    — ALEX EAGLE, Vogue, 26 July 2026
Definition of playful
Noun
  • The countless repetitions give you the most beautiful art form where swans glide, fairies dance and every year a giant nutcracker appears.
    — Chrissie Leong, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026
  • Would the scary girls with fairy wings still be hanging around a trust-fund junkie with a tank of nitrous?
    — Claire Howorth, Vanity Fair, 29 July 2026
Definition of fairy
Adjective
  • But Margaret and Alice’s quick-witted machinations provide the basis for a merry outing at the theater.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026
  • Four hundred years later, a merry band of scientists and entrepreneurs of mind-altering intoxicants are plunging even deeper into the diabolical by mechanizing DMT’s delivery via IV syringe pumps.
    — Charles Moss, SPIN, 16 July 2026
Definition of merry
Noun
  • Reading allows children to live in a vibrant world, surrounded by fairies, elves and talking animals, transporting them to places where the impossible becomes real.
    — Michelle Kearney, The Conversation, 7 July 2026
  • Ferrell starred as Buddy in the 2003 Christmas classic, which focused on a human adopted by elves and raised as an elf in the North Pole until one day, as an adult, discovering his true identity.
    — Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026
Definition of elf
Noun
  • Maeve learns that the legends she was raised on — stories of faeries, kelpies and seelies — are actually true.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 22 May 2026
  • The plays are set in locations as varied as courts, forests, battlefields, and even the realm of faerie.
    — Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
Definition of faerie
Noun
  • Two years ago, the Man City phenom appeared in a 90-second spot for the game that saw him get recruited to storm a castle teeming with goblins, dragons and impish skeletons.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 26 June 2026
  • Follow the babe with the power into Jim Henson’s gloriously weird fantasy wonderland, where goblins sing, doors argue, and David Bowie’s Goblin King serves enough glam-rock charisma to power an entire kingdom.
    — Arushi Jacob, Variety, 24 June 2026
Definition of goblin
Noun
  • Around the dozens of containers that make Toolik the US’s largest research station in the Arctic, musk ox and caribou graze on dwarf birches and fragrant labrador tea, while Arctic ground squirrels pop out of their burrows to survey the tundra.
    — Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 31 July 2026
  • The two planets, named TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, orbit an F7-type dwarf star roughly 1,110 light years away in the southern constellation of Volans.
    — Chris Young July 30, Refractor, 30 July 2026
Definition of dwarf

Browse Nearby Words

fawns
fay
fays
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Cite this Entry

“Fay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fay. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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