Fey

Word of the Day for Monday March 7, 2005

fey \FAY\, adjective:
1. Possessing or displaying a strange and otherworldly aspect or quality; magical or fairylike; elfin.
2. Having power to see into the future; visionary; clairvoyant.
3. Appearing slightly crazy, as if under a spell; touched.
4. (Scots.) Fated to die; doomed.
5. (Scots.) Marked by a sense of approaching death.

. . . the former a gang of dangerous delinquents, fearless, macho, vulgar . . . , the latter a group of mischievous schoolboys, whimsical, fey, sophisticated and daringly experimental.
--Sean Kelly, "What Did You Expect, the Spanish Inquisition?" New York Times, July 25, 1999

Beneath a fey manner, his mother was highly competitive.
--Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men

Leo, suddenly fey, sports a rhinestone ascot and black velvet waistcoat, homburg and walking stick.
--Edward Karam, "Fast and louche," Times (London), March 29, 2001


Fey comes from Middle English feye, feie, from Old English fæge, "fated to die."
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Pronounciation (as in Fay Ray):


Clairvoyant (also slighlty crazy):




Doomed:

The Plaza Hotel



Marked by a sense of impending death:


And a personal note, for those who know the saga with blender boy and his vegomatic blowing every fuse in my apartment, my own personal contribution to fated to death: