fey

adjective

ˈfā

chiefly Scotland : fated to die : doomed

: marked by a foreboding of death or calamity

another and lesser man … gave a fey lonely warning

Hodding Carter

: able to see into the future : visionary

Not being fey, he never suspected what it would lead to.

: marked by an otherworldly air or attitude

she had that half shy, half fey smile and that birdlike perkiness

A. G. Ogden

: crazy, touched

: excessively refined : precious

a fey, self-indulgent dandy

: quaintly unconventional : campy

… audiences howl at her off-center delivery of fey folk songs and quaint special material.

Howard Teichmann

feyly adverb

feyness noun

Did you know?

Fey is a word that defies its own (original) meaning, since it has yet to even come close to the brink of death after being in our language for well over 800 years. In Old and Middle English it meant "feeble" or "sickly." Those meanings turned out to be fey themselves, but the word lived on in senses related to death, and because a wild or elated state of mind was once believed to portend death, other senses arose from these. The word fay, meaning "fairy" or "elf," may also have had an influence on some senses of fey. Not until the 20th century did the word's most recent meanings, "precious" and "campy," find their way into the dictionary.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Back at work, she is eyed by her co-workers, the wonderfully fey Shane (Griffin Matthews) and the middle-aged worrier Megan (the terrific Rosie Perez).

Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2020 His business rivals include the louche Chinese gangster Dry Eye (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding) and a drab little ferret of a man called Matthew (Succession star Jeremy Strong, who delivers every line in a sort of strange, fey deadpan).

Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 23 Jan. 2020 But on the biographical front, the popular image of Dickinson as a fragile, fey, romantically disappointed recluse has been harder to shake.

Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2019 And then there’s Brooks Ashmanskas as Ronnie Wilde: Martin’s fake boyfriend and instructor in all things fey.

Jesse Green, New York Times, 8 July 2018 To some readers, Ms Moshfegh’s premise may seem fey and slight.

The Economist, 12 July 2018 New wavers like Depeche Mode knit the supposedly frivolous and fey sounds of disco into their gloom.

Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 25 June 2018 Giacometti was a master of affixing tiny animals and curling leaves to the bronze framework of his designs, lending them a fey quality; Anthonioz eschews ornament, preferring sleek minimalist shapes.

Nancy Hass, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2018 Pacino's Herod, who's married to Herodias (a steely Hart), Salomé's mother and the widow of the king's brother, is a singular creation: playful, taunting, persuasive, a bit fey.

Gary Goldstein, latimes.com, 29 Mar. 2018 See More

单词	fey
释义	fey adjective ˈfā 1 a chiefly Scotland : fated to die : doomed b : marked by a foreboding of death or calamity another and lesser man … gave a fey lonely warning Hodding Carter 2 a : able to see into the future : visionary Not being fey, he never suspected what it would lead to. b : marked by an otherworldly air or attitude she had that half shy, half fey smile and that birdlike perkiness A. G. Ogden c : crazy, touched 3 a : excessively refined : precious a fey, self-indulgent dandy b : quaintly unconventional : campy … audiences howl at her off-center delivery of fey folk songs and quaint special material. Howard Teichmann feyly adverb feyness noun Did you know? Fey is a word that defies its own (original) meaning, since it has yet to even come close to the brink of death after being in our language for well over 800 years. In Old and Middle English it meant "feeble" or "sickly." Those meanings turned out to be fey themselves, but the word lived on in senses related to death, and because a wild or elated state of mind was once believed to portend death, other senses arose from these. The word fay, meaning "fairy" or "elf," may also have had an influence on some senses of fey. Not until the 20th century did the word's most recent meanings, "precious" and "campy," find their way into the dictionary. Example Sentences Recent Examples on the Web Back at work, she is eyed by her co-workers, the wonderfully fey Shane (Griffin Matthews) and the middle-aged worrier Megan (the terrific Rosie Perez). Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2020 His business rivals include the louche Chinese gangster Dry Eye (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding) and a drab little ferret of a man called Matthew (Succession star Jeremy Strong, who delivers every line in a sort of strange, fey deadpan). Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 23 Jan. 2020 But on the biographical front, the popular image of Dickinson as a fragile, fey, romantically disappointed recluse has been harder to shake. Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2019 And then there’s Brooks Ashmanskas as Ronnie Wilde: Martin’s fake boyfriend and instructor in all things fey. Jesse Green, New York Times, 8 July 2018 To some readers, Ms Moshfegh’s premise may seem fey and slight. The Economist, 12 July 2018 New wavers like Depeche Mode knit the supposedly frivolous and fey sounds of disco into their gloom. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 25 June 2018 Giacometti was a master of affixing tiny animals and curling leaves to the bronze framework of his designs, lending them a fey quality; Anthonioz eschews ornament, preferring sleek minimalist shapes. Nancy Hass, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2018 Pacino's Herod, who's married to Herodias (a steely Hart), Salomé's mother and the widow of the king's brother, is a singular creation: playful, taunting, persuasive, a bit fey. Gary Goldstein, latimes.com, 29 Mar. 2018 See More Word History Etymology Middle English feye, from Old English fǣge; akin to Old High German feigi doomed and perhaps to Old English fāh hostile, outlawed — more at foe First Known Use before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a fey adjective as in psychotic Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance psychotic deranged demented psycho daffy crazed dotty loopy neurotic eccentric unhinged sociopathic maniacal moonstruck daft loony kooky schizoid oddball schizophrenic unbalanced maniac bedlam lunatic tetched mental nutty wacky wacko aberrant paranoid batty disordered meshuga touched cuckoo scatty kookie bats strange fruity disturbed gaga barmy mad teched paranoiac delirious meshuggah delusional meshugah whacky screwy brainsick meshugge bonkers crackers haywire insane witless looney cracked loony tunes ape nuts delusionary queer cranky crackpot loco balmy paranoic pixillated bughouse unsound whacko odd foolish off irrational potty looney tunes non compos mentis crackbrained paranoidal certifiable pixilated obsessive-compulsive berserk crazy unreasonable wud nuclear amok ballistic bananas wigged-out frantic senseless obsessed monomaniac distraught hysterical frenzied amuck raving hysteric depressed monomaniacal distracted fixated Antonyms & Near Antonyms sound sane balanced compos mentis normal rational reasonable wise judicious uncrazy clear lucid sensible healthy well-adjusted unneurotic See More
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fey

adjective

Did you know?

Example Sentences

Word History

adjective