Dictionary

fairy godfather en · NOUN

Etymology

By analogy with fairy godmother.

Meanings

1. (form-of, masculine) Male equivalent of fairy godmother.
   form of fairy godmother
   • He has created Barnaby, an amiable little boy who wishes for a fairy godmother and gets a fairy godfather—Mr. O'Malley of the fat paunch, the pink wings, and the bent cigar. 1943 October 31, Isabelle Mallet, “Godfather With Wings; BARNABY. By Crockett Johnson. […]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Jan 2026:
   • Dickens is also a fairy godfather hovering over the Hallmark Christmas movies: There are Dickens festivals; the characters quote Dickens to each other; and one movie’s heroine has a dog named “Charles” after the writer. 2022 December 24, Maureen Dowd, “Why [Charles] Dickens Haunts Us”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Dec 2022:
   • Foremost in my mind is the breakout scene in 1960's "Cinderfella," his comic telling of the classic fairy tale in which a mistreated stepchild is granted his wish to go to the ball by a fairy godparent — in this iteration, a fairy godfather played magnificently by Ed Wynn. 2017 August 21, Randy Lewis, “Jerry Lewis often scored laughs with a major assist from his musical expertise”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2017:
   • What it means is that Daddy, smiling the while and playing fairy godfather to absolutely everybody, has made his money as a war profiteer. 1976 September 5, Walter Kerr, “Stage View”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Jan 2026:

Forms

Hypernyms

fairy godparent