fairy godfather

plural fairy godfathers

1. masculineMale equivalent of fairy godmother.

   What it means is that Daddy, smiling the while and playing fairy godfather to absolutely everybody, has made his money as a war profiteer.

   1976 September 5, Walter Kerr, “Stage View”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Jan 2026

   3 more examples

   He has created Barnaby, an amiable little boy who wishes for a fairy godmother and gets a fairy godfather—Mr. O'Malley of the fat paunch, the pink wings, and the bent cigar.

   1943 October 31, Isabelle Mallet, “Godfather With Wings; BARNABY. By Crockett Johnson. […]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Jan 2026

   Foremost in my mind is the breakout scene in 1960's "Cinderfella," his comic telling of the classic fairy tale in which a mistreated stepchild is granted his wish to go to the ball by a fairy godparent — in this iteration, a fairy godfather played magnificently by Ed Wynn.

   2017 August 21, Randy Lewis, “Jerry Lewis often scored laughs with a major assist from his musical expertise”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2017

   Dickens is also a fairy godfather hovering over the Hallmark Christmas movies: There are Dickens festivals; the characters quote Dickens to each other; and one movie’s heroine has a dog named “Charles” after the writer.

   2022 December 24, Maureen Dowd, “Why [Charles] Dickens Haunts Us”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Dec 2022