fairy dust

English

Etymology

Based on the story of the fictional character Peter Pan, see quotations.

Noun

fairy dust (uncountable)

1. (fiction) A magical powder that would give the power of flight to whoever it was sprinkled on.
   • 1911, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, Peter and Wendy, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 54:

     Of course Peter had been trifling with them, for no one can fly unless the fairy dust has been blown on him.

2. (by extension) Any apparently magical ingredient or effect; a panacea.
   • 2011 May 19, Megan McArdle, quoting Matt Yglesias, “When Should Governments Contract Out?”, in The Atlantic‎:

     It's not that some magic private sector fairy dust makes the firms all be runs soundly. Lots of bad businesses are out there. But they tend to lose money and close.

3. (slang) The drug phencyclidine.

   Synonym: angel dust

   • 2001, Simon Logan, I-O, prime, →ISBN, page 102:

     This led to a certain amount of complacency on my part and certainly the fairy dust and mescaline cocktails I took day and night could only have contributed to my uncommonly satiated drive for a good fuck.

Translations

See also

• pixie dust

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “fairy dust n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang