giddy
/ˈɡɪd.i/ adjective, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms giddier giddiest giddies giddying giddied
- adjective (predicative only) Feeling a sense of spinning in the head, causing a perception of unsteadiness and being about to fall down; dizzy. “The man became giddy upon standing up so fast.”
- adjective (attributive) Causing or likely to cause dizziness or a feeling of unsteadiness. “They climbed to a giddy height.”
- adjective Moving around something or spinning rapidly.
- adjective Unable to concentrate or think seriously; easily excited; impulsive; also, lightheartedly silly; frivolous.
- adjective (dated) Used as an intensifier.
- adjective Joyfully elated; overcome with excitement or happiness. “The boy was giddy when he opened his birthday presents.”
- adjective (UK, dialectal) Feeling great anger; furious, raging.
- adjective (UK, dialectal, agriculture, veterinary medicine) Of an animal, chiefly a sheep: affected by gid (“a disease caused by parasitic infestation of the brain by tapeworm larvae”), which may result in the animal turning around aimlessly.
- noun Someone or something that is frivolous or impulsive.
- noun (UK, agriculture, veterinary medicine) Synonym of gid (“a disease caused by parasitic infestation of the brain by tapeworm larvae”).
- verb (transitive) To make (someone or something) dizzy or unsteady; to dizzy.
- verb To become dizzy or unsteady.
- verb (obsolete) To move around something or spin rapidly; to reel; to whirl.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
fuzzy fuzzy-headed fuzzy-minded light-headed rattleheaded shoogly vertiginate westy woozy vertiginous brainsick changeable feather-headed flighty giglot inconsistent overlight ecstatic joyous air-headed dizzy airheaded empty-headed featherbrained lightheaded silly
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Middle English gidi, gedy, gydy (“demonically controlled or possessed; crazy, insane; foolish, idiotic, ridiculous, unwise; unsure; (rare) dizzy, shaky; (rare) of an animal: crazed, out of control; a fool”) [and other forms], from Old English gidiġ, gydiġ (“possessed by a demon or spirit, insane, mad”), from Proto-West Germanic *gudīg (“ghostly, spirited”, literally “possessed by a god or spirit”), from *god (“god”) + *-ig, *-g (suffix forming adjectives with the senses of being, doing, or having). Thus the word's elements correspond to god + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’, forming adjectives).
The noun and the verb are derived from the adjective.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having in the head a sensation of whirling or reeling about; having lost the power of preserving the balance of the body, and therefore wavering and inclined to fall; lightheaded; dizzy.
- adjective Promoting or inducing giddiness; as, a giddy height; a giddy precipice. Prior.
- verb To reel; to whirl. Chapman.
- verb To make dizzy or unsteady. [Obs.]
Etymology [OE. gidi mad, silly, AS. gidig, of unknown origin, cf. Norw. gidda to shake, tremble.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “giddy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details