fairy dust

noun

"fairy-dust" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fairy dust” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A magical powder that would give the power of flight to whoever it was sprinkled on.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fairy-dust · fairy dust · English

fairy dust · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for fairy dust
PropertyValue
Headwordfairy dust
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “fairy dust” in English

fairy dustfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fairy dust is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for fairy dust in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Based on the story of the fictional character Peter Pan, see quotations. The correct English form is fairy dust, spelled F-A-I-R-Y- -D-U-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A magical powder that would give the power of flight to whoever it was sprinkled on.
  2. 2
    Any apparently magical ingredient or effect; a panacea.
  3. 3
    The drug phencyclidine.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fairy dust appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Of course Peter had been trifling with them, for no one can fly unless the fairy dust has been blown on him.
  2. It's not that some magic private sector fairy dust makes the firms all be runs^([sic]) soundly. Lots of bad businesses are out there. But they tend to lose money and close.

Etymology

Based on the story of the fictional character Peter Pan, see quotations.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fairy dust"?
"fairy dust" is spelled F-A-I-R-Y- -D-U-S-T.
What does "fairy dust" mean?
As a noun, "fairy dust" means: A magical powder that would give the power of flight to whoever it was sprinkled on.
What is the origin of the word "fairy dust"?
Based on the story of the fictional character Peter Pan, see quotations. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list