Adult male Superb Fairy-wrens have rich blue and black plumage above and on the throat. Younger males go into eclipse plumage outside the breeding season. The belly is grey-white, the bill is black, and the tail dark blue. Females and young birds are mostly brown above with a dull orange-brown area around the eye and a brown bill. Females have a pale greenish gloss, absent in young birds, on the otherwise brown tail. The legs are brown in both sexes. All carry their long tails cocked up.