Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fairy tale

/ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.87 in modern English

Syllables
fairy -tale
IPA
/ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The literary genre of these stories.

Uncountable

noun

A delightful and ideal situation of a kind attained by very few.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Calque of French conte de fées, coined by French writer Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/
  • British English: /ˈfeəɹi ˌteɪl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Questions

How do you pronounce fairy tale?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/.
What does fairy tale mean?
A folktale or literary story featuring fairies or similar fantasy characters.
Where does fairy tale come from?
Calque of French conte de fées, coined by French writer Madame d'Aulnoy in the late 17th century.

How to pronounce fairy tale

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fairy tale”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfɛɹi ˌteɪl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fairy tale”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “fairy tale” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.