airy-fairy

[ air-ee-fair-ee ]

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

/ ˈɛərɪˈfɛərɪ /

adjective

1. informal.
   fanciful and unrealistic

   an airy-fairy scheme

2. delicate to the point of being insubstantial; light

Word History and Origins

Origin of airy-fairy¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of airy-fairy¹

C19: from Tennyson's poem Lillian (1830), where the central figure is described as "Airy, fairy Lillian"

Example Sentences

“The divination wasn’t airy-fairy; the clouds didn’t open. As much as I’m spiritual, I’m very pragmatic too. He just gave me very clear advice, clear messages. I said, ‘I think I’ve found my tradition.’

From New York Times

But to call Ukraine's semi-autocratic and corruption-plagued government a democracy only suggests how much that term has been degraded, and it's painfully naive to believe that the vast U.S. investment in military aid to Ukraine has anything to do with such airy-fairy concepts.

From Salon

Marine Le Pen's aim was to drive home the image that she has cultivated throughout the campaign: that of a woman who understands the concerns of ordinary French citizens - their basic "good sense", to use her phrase - as opposed to the airy-fairy pretensions of the wealth-obsessed Emmanuel Macron.

From BBC

When Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples tear into “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” I was transported to heaven — not the airy-fairy buffet staffed by winged cater-waiters, but to the mountaintop accessed by a steep and bloody path.

From New York Times

We're not just going off on some airy-fairy, mystical journey here, that what we're trying to do is the latest and greatest science that's revealing these human-like traits among these charismatic ocean animals.

From Salon