From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsylphsylph /sɪlf/ noun [countable] 1 WOMAN literary an attractively thin woman2 RFan imaginary female creature who lived in the air, according to ancient stories
Examples from the Corpus
sylph• When he produced a new brochure he proudly placed portraits of his wife and himself side by side with his dancing sylphs.• They look like abject plaster sylphs.Origin sylph (1600-1700) Modern Latin sylphus; probably an invented word 