fairytale vs tale

fairytale and tale both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
fairytale	Yes	No	No	No
tale	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, tale is a hypernym of fairytale; that is, tale is a word with a broader meaning than fairytale:

fairytale: a story about fairies; told to amuse children
tale: a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program

Other hypernyms of fairytale include narration, narrative, story.

As nouns, tale is a hypernym of fairytale; that is, tale is a word with a broader meaning than fairytale:

fairytale: an interesting but highly implausible story; often told as an excuse
tale: a trivial lie

Other hypernyms of fairytale include fib, story, taradiddle, tarradiddle.

fairytale (noun)	tale (noun)
a story about fairies; told to amuse children	a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
an interesting but highly implausible story; often told as an excuse	a trivial lie