manic pixie dreamgirl

A form of manic pixie dream girl — A stock female character, typically characterized as a bubbly, quirky free spirit, whose main purpose within a narrative is to teach a young male protagonist to embrace the mysteries and adventures of life.

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Meanings

nounmanic pixie dreamgirl (plural manic pixie dreamgirls)

plural manic pixie dreamgirls

  1. alternativeAlternative form of manic pixie dream girl.

    A precursor to the “manic pixie dreamgirl” trope of today, the femme-enfant’s youth was to be mooned over, her naïveté aspired to, her pure countenance captured in poetry and paint.

    2019 June, Pam Grossman, “The Dark Arts: Magic Makers and Craft Women”, in Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power, New York, N.Y.: Gallery Books, →ISBN, page 179
    1 more example

    Your love for her is getting embarrassing. [...] She's gorgeous, she has buckets of charisma she couldn't hide if she tried, and she makes all the boys fall in love with her. That sounds like Manic Pixie Dreamgirl territory, my friend—which, news flash again, is a cliché.

    2017 October, James Patterson, Emily Raymond, chapter 30, in Expelled, New York, N.Y.: Jimmy Patterson Books/Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN; republished as The Injustice, New York, N.Y.: Jimmy Patterson Books/Little, Brown and Company, 2018, →ISBN
Cite this entry
APA

manic pixie dreamgirl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manic%20pixie%20dreamgirl

MLA

“manic pixie dreamgirl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manic%20pixie%20dreamgirl. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manic pixie dreamgirl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manic%20pixie%20dreamgirl.

Source: manic pixie dreamgirl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.