fairy tale

[ fair-ee teyl ]

noun

1. a story, usually for children, about elves, hobgoblins, dragons, fairies, or other magical creatures.
2. an incredible or misleading statement, account, or belief:

   His story of being a millionaire is just a fairy tale.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or suggesting a fairy tale:

   a fairy-tale castle.

2. idealized or romantic, often to an unrealistic extent:

   Many people still want to believe in true love and fairy-tale endings.

fairy tale

¹

noun

1. a story about fairies or other mythical or magical beings, esp one of traditional origin told to children
2. a highly improbable account

fairy-tale

²

adjective

1. of or relating to a fairy tale
2. resembling a fairy tale, esp in being extremely happy or fortunate

   a true story with a fairy-tale ending

3. highly improbable

   he came out with a fairy-tale account of his achievements

Word History and Origins

Origin of fairy tale¹

First recorded in 1740–50

Example Sentences

Today, those stories are effectively fairy tales — stories we tell ourselves to avoid confronting reality.

From Vox

For now, it seems like a fairy tale — the idea that Americans could choose to work or not work based on their desire, rather than the threat of starvation.

From Vox

We love the idea of debuting this musical — filled with beloved fairy tale characters — at a theater dedicated to the exploration of classic stories reframed for modern audiences.

From Washington Post

Cialdini, like a character in some ancient fairy tale, has found himself advising both sides of the bargaining table.

From Freakonomics

It is often thought that fairy tales live on because they express unchanging truths about the human condition.

From Time

Not that the demonstration had anything to do with this couple, whom Sarah seems to see as a fairy tale come to life.

From The Daily Beast

Were the fairy-tale true it really would shame the affluent west.

From The Daily Beast

The story was a very subversive fairy tale by Roald Dahl, and a fantastic part.

From The Daily Beast

Today, the quaint spectacle of a stage-managed fairy-tale celebration strikes many of us as a load of garbage.

From The Daily Beast

Is there more to U.S. involvement overseas than the fairy tale of knights saving fair maidens from dragons?

From The Daily Beast

The tailor of the fairy tale with his "seven at a blow" is not in it with the gunnery Lieutenant of a battleship.

From Project Gutenberg

He, Bastien-Lepage, painter of the soil, found himself unable to transfer to canvas the enchantment of that land of fairy tale!

From Project Gutenberg

Life at the Princes country-seat seemed to Tchaikovsky like a fairy tale.

From Project Gutenberg

But on the night when ended the Fairy tale we have seen that a new Sally began springing into life.

From Project Gutenberg

By all means read the chapters on The Possibilities of Agriculture: no fairy-tale is more miraculous.

From Project Gutenberg