: 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
Amanda Parrish Morgan, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2024
And the only thing that’s deliberately stylized is the fairy-tale compositions.
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 20 Dec. 2024
Cassidy Randall, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
Castles, cottages, and villages from fairy tales like those of the Brother Grimm are re-created at the scale of furniture, sculpted in fortified plasters, wood and metal framing, epoxies, fiberglass, and acrylic paint.
—Natalia Torija, Curbed, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for fairy-tale 
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Adjective
The book’s long-story-by-the-fire quality, combined with its fairy-tale deployment of castles, unfair punishments, and the thrumming, powerful natural world, evokes the most affecting children’s literature.
—Amanda Parrish Morgan, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2024
And the only thing that’s deliberately stylized is the fairy-tale compositions.
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
These six wooden tiny houses are straight out of a skiing fairy tale: ski right to them at the end of the day, spend the evening in the cozy clubhouse—private just for Constella guests after 2pm—with its central fireplace, bar, and restaurant.
—Cassidy Randall, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
Castles, cottages, and villages from fairy tales like those of the Brother Grimm are re-created at the scale of furniture, sculpted in fortified plasters, wood and metal framing, epoxies, fiberglass, and acrylic paint.
—Natalia Torija, Curbed, 3 Jan. 2025
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 15 Jan. 2025.
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