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
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
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Recent Examples of fay
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
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
Adjective
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The fun of this salad is the playful textures of super-crispy rice made from day-old leftovers.—
Nina Moskowitz,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
10 Mar. 2026
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No doubt that playful warmth played a part in him being cast as Luffy, a hilariously nonchalant, yet utterly sincere would-be pirate.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In podcasts, internet-comment sections, the replies to his viral Instagram videos, and stories from his friends and colleagues, Fleming is described as a Muppet, a fairy, a prophet, a cartoon.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Poppies and lupines made surprise appearances in January joining more traditional early bloomers like fairy duster and chuparosa.—
Roger Naylor,
AZCentral.com,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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That would be the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, where A-listers gather to drink, dance, and be merry until the early-morning hours.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
9 Mar. 2026
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Eminently rewatchable, Gavin and Stacey is one of the merriest of BBC sitcoms.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The theft follows a similar incident in December, when members of the same group flooded into a Montreal grocery store dressed as Santa Clause and his elves, stealing food and leaving some of it gift-wrapped under a nearby Christmas tree.—
Max Saltman,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
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One of Magnason’s first jobs was at the National Archives of Iceland, where he was surrounded by books about the old Norse gods, colonial histories, and even stories about elves.—
Marya E. Gates,
IndieWire,
27 Jan. 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
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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
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The plot follows a young girl who ends up wishing away her baby brother into the goblin labyrinth.—
Lucia Cheng,
Des Moines Register,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
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To make the garden more sustainable and less reliant on mowing, Johnson replaced part of the front lawn with dwarf mondo grass.—
Lennie Omalza,
Louisville Courier Journal,
5 Mar. 2026
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When his uncle Larry Tisch bought CBS, Spy called him a dwarf billionaire.—
Elise Taylor,
Vanity Fair,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fay. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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