airy-fairy

also n., pl., -ies, also -ies.
One that is insubstantial or impractical: "They'd wanted him for Ambassador in Paris but he'd turned it down; he'd no patience with the airy-fairies" (John le Carré).

adj.
Insubstantial or impractical: "You are talking about some airy fairy concept which will never come in my lifetime" (Margaret Thatcher).

(AIR-ee FAIR-ee)

adjective
1. Light, delicate, fragile.
2. Fanciful, impractical, unrealistic.

Etymology
From Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 1830 poem Lilian whose opening lines are: Airy, Fairy Lilian, Flitting, fairy Lilian, When I ask her if she love me, Claps her tiny hands above me, Laughing all she can.

Usage
"The slated Indian tour in Pakistan, one must remember, is not an airy-fairy attempt to bridge the subcontinental divide." — Pad Up And Play; Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India); Feb 11, 2004.

"Rita is no airy-fairy artistic pipe-dreamer." — Liz Kennedy; Wouldn't It Be Cool to Have An Iceberg?; The Belfast News Letter (Northern Ireland); Aug 10, 2004.

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - luftig, urealistisk, virkelighedsfjern
n. - luftkastel

Nederlands (Dutch)
onrealistisch

Français (French)
adj. - (GB) farfelu
n. - farfelu, intellectuel

Deutsch (German)
adj. - aus der Luft gegriffen, (inf.) hübsch
n. - verrückte Idee

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - νεραϊδίσιος, χιμαιρικός

Italiano (Italian)
illusorio

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - leviano, vago, impraticável

Русский (Russian)
непрактичный, нереальный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - etéreo, imaginario
n. - etéreo, imaginario

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - verklighetsfrämmande, luftig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
空想的, 空中楼阁似的, 不切实际的, 不切实际的人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 空想的, 空中樓閣似的, 不切實際的
n. - 不切實際的人

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 요정과 같은, 미묘한
n. - 날렵함

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 妖精のような, 根のない, 非現実的な

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) غامض وخيالي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮לא מעשי, דמיוני, טיפשי, עדין, לא מציאותי, נשי (גבר), אידיאליסטי‬
n. - ‮אינטלקטואל‬

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Haba (airy-fairy Baby Swing)