Definition of "elfin" []

• Relating to or suggestive of an elf. (adjective)
• Made, done, or produced by an elf. (adjective)
• Small and sprightly or mischievous. (adjective)
• Having a magical quality or charm; fairylike: moved across the dimly lit stage with elfin grace. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "They were having a glorious time and their gay voices and gayer laughter echoed up and down the valley, dying away in elfin cadences among the trees."
• "Dacrycarpus imbricatus and Leptospermum flavescens are also abundant in these forests, which because of their smaller stature are called elfin forests."
• "Roger Ferguson, then Fed vice chairman, described Greenspan at that January meeting as "the monetary policy Yoda," referring to the elfin guru in the movie "Star Wars.""