Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

airy-fairy

American  
[air-ee-fair-ee] / ˈɛər iˈfɛər i /

adjective

  1. Informal. delicate or lovely.

    an airy-fairy actress;

    an airy-fairy nightgown.

  2. Informal. not based on reality or concerned with mundane affairs; unrealistic.

    He'd better get rid of those airy-fairy ideas about spending a fortune that isn't even his.

  3. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. effeminate.

airy-fairy British  
/ ˈɛərɪˈfɛərɪ /

adjective

  1. informal fanciful and unrealistic

    an airy-fairy scheme

  2. delicate to the point of being insubstantial; light

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of airy-fairy

First recorded in 1830–40, perhaps originally in the phrase “airy, fairy Lilian” in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem “Lilian” (1830)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.