| / English Dictionary |
FAIR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A traveling show; having sideshows and rides and games of skill etc.
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("fair" is a kind of...):
show (the act of publicly exhibiting or entertaining)
Meronyms (parts of "fair"):
midway (the place at a fair or carnival where sideshows and similar amusements are located)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A sale of miscellany; often for charity
Example:
the church bazaar
Synonyms:
bazaar; fair
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("fair" is a kind of...):
cut-rate sale; sale; sales event (an occasion (usually brief) for buying at specially reduced prices)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fair"):
book fair; bookfair (bazaar at which books are sold or auctioned off in order to raise funds for a worthy cause)
craft fair (a fair at which objects made by craftsmen are offered for sale)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A competitive exhibition of farm products
Example:
she won a blue ribbon for her baking at the county fair
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("fair" is a kind of...):
exhibition; expo; exposition (a collection of things (goods or works of art etc.) for public display)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Gathering of producers to promote business
Example:
book fair
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("fair" is a kind of...):
assemblage; gathering (a group of persons together in one place)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fair"):
book fair; bookfair (fair organized by publishers or booksellers to promote the sale of books)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Very pleasing to the eye
Example:
young fair maidens
Synonyms:
bonnie; bonny; comely; fair; sightly
Classified under:
Similar:
beautiful (delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration)
Derivation:
fairness (the quality of being good looking and attractive)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(used of hair or skin) pale or light-colored
Example:
a fair complexion
Synonyms:
fair; fairish
Classified under:
Similar:
blond; blonde; light-haired (being or having light colored skin and hair and usually blue or grey eyes)
Derivation:
fairness (the property of having a naturally light complexion)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Free of clouds or rain
Example:
today will be fair and warm
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
clear (free from clouds or mist or haze)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(of a baseball) hit between the foul lines
Example:
he hit a fair ball over the third base bag
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
in-bounds (between the first and third base lines)
Domain category:
ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)
Antonym:
foul ((of a baseball) not hit between the foul lines)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
Example:
by fair means or foul
Synonyms:
fair; just
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
antimonopoly; antitrust (of laws and regulations; designed to protect trade and commerce from unfair business practices)
clean; sporting; sportsmanlike; sporty (exhibiting or calling for sportsmanship or fair play)
fair-minded (of a person; just and impartial; not prejudiced)
fair-and-square (just and honest)
Also:
just (used especially of what is legally or ethically right or proper or fitting)
impartial (showing lack of favoritism)
reasonable; sensible (showing reason or sound judgment)
Attribute:
equity; fairness (conformity with rules or standards)
Antonym:
unfair (not fair; marked by injustice or partiality or deception)
Derivation:
fairness (conformity with rules or standards)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Gained or earned without cheating or stealing
Example:
an fair penny
Synonyms:
fair; honest
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
equitable; just (fair to all parties as dictated by reason and conscience)
Sense 7
Meaning:
(of a manuscript) having few alterations or corrections
Example:
a clean manuscript
Synonyms:
clean; fair
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
legible ((of handwriting, print, etc.) capable of being read or deciphered)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Attractively feminine
Example:
the fair sex
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
feminine (associated with women and not with men)
Derivation:
fairness (the quality of being good looking and attractive)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Not excessive or extreme
Example:
reasonable prices
Synonyms:
fair; fairish; reasonable
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
moderate (being within reasonable or average limits; not excessive or extreme)
Derivation:
fairness (conformity with rules or standards)
Sense 10
Meaning:
Lacking exceptional quality or ability
Example:
the performance was middling at best
Synonyms:
average; fair; mediocre; middling
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
ordinary (not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they fair ... he / she / it fairs
Past simple: faired
Past participle: faired
-ing form: fairing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Join so that the external surfaces blend smoothly
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "fair" is one way to...):
join (cause to become joined or linked)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
IV. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Without favoring one party, in a fair evenhanded manner
Example:
deal fairly with one another
Synonyms:
evenhandedly; fair; fairly
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
In conformity with the rules or laws and without fraud or cheating
Example:
they played fairly
Synonyms:
clean; fair; fairly
Classified under:
Context examples:
It is characterized by hypopigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes, resulting in very fair skin, white colored hair, and reduced pigmentation in the iris and retina.
(Oculocutaneous Albinism, NCI Thesaurus)
It happened once that the father was going to the fair, and asked his wife’s daughters what he should bring them.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
As the schooner paid off, the fore- and main-sheets were slacked away for fair wind.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It is a fair argument that wherever No. 3 came from is also the source of Nos. 1 and 2.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I cook breakfast, I eat, then I sleep on the beach three hours. I wake up. It is ten o'clock. Snow is falling. There is wind, much wind that blows fair.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
It is only fair to them to say that.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Dave was fair and very wise.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
But dark or fair, she is my own dear little girlie, and her mother’s pet.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I am very sensible, madam, of the hardship to my fair cousins, and could say much on the subject, but that I am cautious of appearing forward and precipitate.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
The other was fair, as fair as can be, with great wavy masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
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