fairy-tale

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fair·y-tale

(fâr′ē-tāl′)

adj.

1. Of or relating to a fairy tale.

2. Likened to a fairy tale: a fairy-tale romance that preceded the royal wedding.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fairy-tale

adj

1. of or relating to a fairy tale

2. resembling a fairy tale, esp in being extremely happy or fortunate: a true story with a fairy-tale ending.

3. highly improbable: he came out with a fairy-tale account of his achievements.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Translations

fairy

(ˈfeəri) – plural ˈfairies – noun

an imaginary creature in the form of a very small (often winged) human, with magical powers. Children often believe in fairies; (also adjective) fairy-land.

ˈfairy-story noun

1. an old, or children's, story of fairies, magic etc. a book of fairy-stories.

2. an untrue statement; a lie. I don't want to hear any fairy-stories!

ˈfairy-tale noun

a fairy-story. to tell fairy-tales; (also adjective) the fairy-tale appearance of the countryside.

References in classic literature ?

There will be no lack of fairy-tale authors in the future, I am sure.

View in context

As you shall see, I invented many stories for David, practising the telling of them by my fireside as if they were conjuring feats, while Irene knew only one, but she told it as never has any other fairy-tale been told in my hearing.

View in context

Years ago, when I used to wander of an evening from the fireside to the pleasant land of fairy-tales, I met a doughty knight and true.

He tells me his favorite fairy-tales, he can do up to six times, and he has a guinea-pig, and pa says fairy-tales ain't true; and isn't it a pity?

View in context

He was a recognised part of the scheme of things on the "We're Here"; had his place at the table and among the bunks; and could hold his own in the long talks on stormy days, when the others were always ready to listen to what they called his "fairy-tales" of his life ashore.

View in context

They may say it is all fairy-tales, if they like; and I have spent whole nights telling myself fairy-tales.

View in context

Carvers from three countries worked on the sculptures.Piesokovo, a compound near Liptovsky Jan decorated with oversized fairy-tale sculptures made from sand, is a new tourist attraction for families with children.

Do not miss Liptov's fairy-tale sand sculptures

But the story quickly becomes more complicated as Link references other fairy tales, blurs the lines between fairy-tale and horror genres, and positions each character as a possible villain of the story in the absence of a heroic protagonist.

Ambiguous Villains and Fairy-Tale Monsters in Kelly Link's "The Cinderella Game"

Basile's "The Tale of Tales" and Its Afterlife in the Fairy-Tale Tradition.

Armando Maggi. Preserving the Spell. Basile's "The Tale of Tales" and Its Afterlife in the Fairy-Tale Tradition

The first three fairy-tales are ones I heard during childhood, in the spinning room and during the harvesting of the hops; "Little Ida's Flowers" on the other hand, came into being one day while visiting the poet Thiele, when I was telling his daughter Ida about the flowers at the botanical gardens; I kept and adapted a few of the child's remarks when I later wrote the fairy-tale down (2a).

Hans Christian Andersen for Children, with Children and by Children

This volume presents about 500 fairy-tale postcards from around the world, drawn from the authorAEs collection.

Tales of Wonder: Retelling Fairy Tales Through Picture Postcards

Duggan, Queer Enchantments: Gender, Sexuality, and Class in the Fairy-Tale Cinema of Jacques Demy.

Anne E. Duggan, Queer Enchantments: Gender, Sexuality, and Class in the Fairy-Tale Cinema of Jacques Demy

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