: 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
an old-fashioned fairy tale depicting revolutionists as demigods—Jonathan Zimmerman
Jonathan ZimmermanSynonyms
Examples 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
Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
The fairy-tale element, however, was inspired by A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
—Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 5 Nov. 2024
Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 1 Nov. 2024
All the details — the Nancy Myers beach house, the Ouija board horror house, the fairy tale castle — came from pop-culture details riddled around Billy’s impeccably tidy bedroom.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fairy-tale 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
News of Chigvintsev’s arrest ended what appeared to be a reality TV-style fairy-tale romance, involving the two celebrities.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
The fairy-tale element, however, was inspired by A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
—Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
Think black tie with steampunk, historical and fairy tale flourishes.
—Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 1 Nov. 2024
All the details — the Nancy Myers beach house, the Ouija board horror house, the fairy tale castle — came from pop-culture details riddled around Billy’s impeccably tidy bedroom.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fairy-tale
Dictionary Entries Near fairy-tale
Cite this Entry
“Fairy-tale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairy-tale. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share