: characteristic of or suitable to a fairy tale
especially
: marked by seemingly unreal beauty, perfection, luck, or happiness
led a fairy-tale life
a store clerk's fairy-tale romance
1
a
: a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (such as fairies, wizards, and goblins)
enjoyed the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid"
called also fairy story
b
: a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending
… those balletic fairy tales in which a new corps member steps in for an injured principal at the last minute and delivers a splendid performance.—
Margaret Willis
Margaret Willis2
: a made-up story usually designed to mislead
Don't fall for the fairy tale going around that offshore drilling will lessen our dependence on foreign oil …—Reginald T. Dogan
Reginald T. DoganExamples of fairy-tale in a Sentence
Noun
the fairy tale about the sleeping princess
Everything he told us about his happy marriage was just a fairy tale.
Recent Examples on the Web
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Mar. 2026
Certainly, this is no fairy-tale romance.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
With prices of almost everything going up, the idea of the average American football fan attending the Super Bowl appears to be more of a fairy tale.
—Brian Flood, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fairy-tale
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Adjective
But that’s all part of the film’s fairy-tale flipness.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Mar. 2026
Certainly, this is no fairy-tale romance.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
Noun
Their suspicious acceptance more readily hints at the painful reality underneath this modest fairy tale.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
With prices of almost everything going up, the idea of the average American football fan attending the Super Bowl appears to be more of a fairy tale.
—Brian Flood, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fairy-tale
Cite this Entry
“Fairy-tale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairy-tale. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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