If you describe someone as fey, you mean that they behave in a shy, childish, or unpredictable way, and you are often suggesting that this is unnatural or insincere.
[literary]
They are no longer anything like as fey and reserved as they once were.
Her fey charm and eccentric ways were legendary.
fey in British English
(feɪ)
adjective
1.
interested in or believing in the supernatural
2.
attuned to the supernatural; clairvoyant; visionary
3. mainly Scottish
fated to die; doomed
4. mainly Scottish
in a state of high spirits or unusual excitement, formerly believed to presage death
Derived forms
feyness (ˈfeyness)
noun
Word origin
Old English fæge marked out for death; related to Old Norse feigr doomed, Old High German feigi
fey in American English
(feɪ)
adjective
1. Chiefly Scottish
a.
fated; doomed to death
archaic except in Scottish usage
b.
in an unusually excited state, formerly believed to portend sudden death
2.
strange or unusual in any of certain ways, as, variously, eccentric, whimsical, visionary, elfin, shy, otherworldly
Derived forms
feyly (ˈfeyly)
adverb
feyness (ˈfeyness)
noun
Word origin
ME feie < OE fæge, fated, akin to Ger feige, cowardly (OHG feigi, doomed) < IE base *peik-, hostile > foe, feud1, L piger, averse
Examples of 'fey' in a sentence
fey
Some interviewers have found it unnerving to encounter a subject with such a wild stare and a fey voice given to worrying pauses.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But there is one rather fey piece of pop culture that remains a bridge too far for many - the musical.
The Sun (2008)
Similarly, a flat, rounded stud will give a fey effect rather than a pointed one.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
I HAD expected him to adopt a rather fey breaststroke when he swam.