air·y-fair·y also airy fairy (âr  -fâr) Chiefly British Slang n. pl. air·y-fair·ies also air·y fair·ies One that is insubstantial or impractical: "They'd wanted him for Ambassador in Paris but he'd turned it down; he'd no patience with the airy-fairies" (John le Carré). adj. Insubstantial or impractical: "You are talking about some airy fairy concept which will never come in my lifetime" (Margaret Thatcher). |
airy-fairy [ˈɛərɪˈfɛərɪ]
adj
1. Informal fanciful and unrealistic an airy-fairy scheme
2. delicate to the point of being insubstantial; light
[from Tennyson's poem Lillian (1830), where the central figure is described as ``Airy, fairy Lillian'']
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
airy-fairy
adjective fanciful, lightweight, shaky, feeble, flimsy, unconvincing, unsound, insubstantial, without substance, incorporeal, chimerical their airy-fairy principles
firm, sound, solid, substantial, concrete
firm, sound, solid, substantial, concrete
Translations
airy-fairy [ˌɛərɪˈfɛərɪ] ADJ (Brit) [ideas, principles] → superficial, vacío; [plan, promises] → vano, fantasioso; [person] → insustancial
airy-fairy
adj (Brit inf) → versponnen; excuse → windig; talk → versponnen, larifari inv (inf); your plans seem rather airy-fairy → deine Pläne scheinen ziemlich unausgegoren
airy-fairy [ˈɛərɪˈfɛərɪ] adj (fam) → vago/a
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