away with the fairies
Not all there; slightly crazy.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“She's away with the fairies today.”
“You are away with the fairies if you believe that story.”
“He keeps talking to himself — I think he's a bit away with the fairies.”
“My neighbor is away with the fairies if she thinks her cat can actually predict the winning lottery numbers.”
“The boss was away with the fairies during the meeting, staring out the window and ignoring every question we asked him.”
“Lost in his own elaborate fantasies, the old poet wandered through the garden, clearly away with the fairies and barely aware of the world around him.”
The phrase originates from folklore of the British Isles, rooted in the traditional belief that fairies were prone to either kidnapping humans or robbing them of their wits. Such a disappearance, whether physical or mental, was attributed to the interference of these entities, leaving the victim absent from their expected station. The idiom preserves the consequence of this supernatural theft without the inconvenience of the abduction itself.
- 01
away game
An athletic contest played away from the team's home field.
- 02
bang away
to strike or hit repeatedly
- 03
bear away the bell
To be superior in something.
- 04
beaver away
To work hard at a task.
- 05
blaze away
To fire (firearms) repeatedly.
- 06
blow away
To kill (someone) by shooting them with a firearm.
- 07
blow the cobwebs away
To make changes for space for new fresh ideas
- 08
bottle away
To store up or stock up.
Last updated August 10, 2026