fairy tale
/ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/
"fairy-tale" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fairy tale” 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 May 6, 2026) - A folktale or literary story featuring fairies or similar fantasy characters.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fairy tale |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fairy tale” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
fairy tale is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for fairy tale, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of French conte de fées, coined by French writer Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century. The correct English form is fairy tale, spelled F-A-I-R-Y- -T-A-L-E.
Definition
- 1A folktale or literary story featuring fairies or similar fantasy characters.
- 2The literary genre of these stories.
- 3A story presented as true that is not believable.
- 4A delightful and ideal situation of a kind attained by very few.
Etymology
Calque of French conte de fées, coined by French writer Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century.
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
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Using “fairy tale”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-A-I-R-Y- -T-A-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.