fey

Meaning

Adj

1. About to die; doomed; on the verge of sudden or violent death.
2. (obsolete) Dying; dead.
3. Possessing second sight, clairvoyance, or clairaudience.
4. Overrefined, affected.
5. Strange or otherworldly.
6. Spellbound.

Noun

1. A fairy.
2. Fairy folk collectively.

Noun

Alternative form of pe (“Semitic letter”)

Synonyms

elfin

touched

enrapt

entranced

fairylike

hypnotized

magic

🪄

mesmerized

rapt

transfixed

doomed

whimsical

eccentric

Pronounced as (IPA)

/feɪ/

Etymology

From Middle English fey (“fated to die”), from Old English fǣġe (“doomed to die, timid”), from Proto-West Germanic *faigī, from Proto-Germanic *faigijaz (“cowardly, wicked”), from Proto-Indo-European *peyk- (“ill-meaning, bad”).
Akin to Old Saxon fēgi, whence Dutch veeg (“doomed, near death”), Old High German feigi (“appointed for death, ungodly”) whence German feige (“cowardly”), Old Norse feigr (“doomed”) whence the Icelandic feigur (“doomed to die”), Old English fāh (“outlawed, hostile”). More at foe.