Phrase guide

tooth fairy

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtuːθ ˌfɛə̯ɹi/
  • General-American: /ˈtuθ ˌfɛə̯ɹi/
  • General-American: /-ˌfɛɹi/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money (or sometimes a present) in exchange for a milk tooth when it falls out of a child's mouth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Anna was concerned that telling her child about the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny would cause him to believe his mother was a liar later in life.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of tooth fairy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a fairy that is said to leave money at night under a child's pillow to compensate for a baby tooth falling out

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fairy, faery, faerie, fay, sprite

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

42 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: tandemuis — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Arabic: جِنِّيّ أَسْنَان (jinniyy ʔasnān) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Basque: Maritxu Teilatuko — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Basque: Maritxu Telletuko — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Belarusian: зубная фея (zubnaja fjeja) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Bulgarian: феята на зъбките (fejata na zǎbkite) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Catalan: angelet de les dents — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Catalan: angelets — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 牙仙 (yáxiān) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Danish: tandfe — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Dutch: tandenfee — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Finnish: hammaskeiju — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • French: fée des dents — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • French: petite souris — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • German: Zahnfee — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Hebrew: פיית השיניים (feyát hashináyim) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Hungarian: fogtündér — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Ido: dentofeo — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Indonesian: peri gigi — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Italian: acchiappadenti — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Italian: fatina dei denti — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Italian: topolino — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Japanese: 歯の妖精 (shinoyōsei) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Korean: 이의 요정 (iui yojeong) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Macedonian: забна самовила (zabna samovila) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Malay: pari-pari gigi — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Mon: ဒေဝတဴၚေက် (dewataoṅek) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Mongolian: шүдний дагина (šüdnii dagina) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tannfe — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: tannfe — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Persian: پری دندان (pari-ye dandân) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Polish: zębowa wróżka — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Polish: wróżka zębuszka — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Portuguese: fada dos dentes — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Russian: зубная фе́я (zubnaja féja) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Spanish: hada de los dientes — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Spanish: ratoncito Pérez — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Spanish: ratón Pérez — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Swedish: tandfe — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Thai: ทูธแฟรี — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Turkish: diş perisi — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth
  • Ukrainian: зубна фея (zubna feja) — figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth