giddy

comparative giddier · superlative giddiest

1. predicativeFeeling 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.

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   [W]hilst I vvas thus muſing, and attentively looking upon the VVater, to try vvhether I could diſcover the Bottom, it happened to me, as it often does to thoſe that gaze too ſtedfaſtly on ſvvift Streams, that my Head began to grovv giddy, and my Leggs to ſtagger tovvards the River, into vvhich queſtionleſs I had fell, if Philaretus had not ſeaſonably and obligingly prevented it.

   1665, Robert Boyle, “Occasional Reflections. Discourse XVIII. Upon a Giddiness Occasion’d by Looking Attentively on a Rapid Stream.”, in Occasional Reflections upon Several Subiects. Whereto is Premis’d a Discourse about Such Kind of Thoughts, London: […] W. Wilson for Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, section IV (Which Treats of Angling Improv’d to Spiritual Uses), page 120

   I wish you wouldn't keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you make one quite giddy.

   1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Pig and Pepper”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 93

   They see the roofs and argue about where the different churches are: Rathmines' blue dome, Adam and Eve's, saint Laurence O'Toole's. But it makes them giddy to look so they pull up their skirts …

   1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 7: Aeolus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 141

   Susan loved to drink wine, and I was not a drinker at all, so I'd just sit there and watch her drink glass after glass and get giddier and giddier.

   2010 April 12, Bruce Kimmel, chapter 6, in “There’s Mel, There’s Woody, and There’s You”: My Life in the Slow Lane, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 143

   Synonyms: fuzzy, fuzzy-headed, fuzzy-minded, light-headed, rattleheaded, shoogly, vertiginate, westy

2. attributiveCausing or likely to cause dizziness or a feeling of unsteadiness.

   They climbed to a giddy height.

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   [A]s vve pact along, / Vpon the giddy footing of the hatches: / Me thought that Gloceſter ſtumbled, and in ſtumbling, / Stroke me that thought to ſtay him ouer board, / Into the tumbling billovves of the maine.

   c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]

   VVilt thou vpon the high and giddy maſſe, / Seale vp the ſhip-boies eies, and rocke his braines, […]

   c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]

   [A]ll those changes, that are taken for the Giddy turns of Fortune's Wheel, shall serve to approach him the faster to the blest Mansion he would arrive at.

   1665, Robert Boyle, “A Discourse Touching Occasional Meditations. Chapter VI.”, in Occasional Reflections upon Several Subiects. Whereto is Premis’d a Discourse about Such Kind of Thoughts, London: […] W. Wilson for Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, section IV, page 88

   Povv'r like nevv VVine, does your vveak Brain ſurpriſe, / And its mad fumes, in hot diſcourſes, riſe; / But time theſe giddy vapours vvill remove; / Mean vvhile I'll take the ſober joys of Love.

   1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, Act IV, page 56

   From infancy through childhood's giddy maze, / Frovvard at ſchool, and fretful in his plays, / The puny tyrant burns to ſubjugate / The free republic of the vvhip-gig ſtate.

   1782, William Cowper, “Hope”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 151

   Synonyms: vertiginous

3. Moving around something or spinning rapidly.

   To ſpoil Antiquities of hammerd ſteele, / And turn the giddy round of Fortunes vvheele.

   1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, signature G3, verso

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   So vvhirls a VVheel, in giddy Circle toſt, / And rapid as it runs, the ſingle Spokes are loſt.

   1720, Homer, “Book XVIII”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume V, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 99, lines 695–696

   There, vvhile above the giddy tempeſt flies, / And all around diſtreſsful yells ariſe, / The penſive exile, bending vvith his vvoe, / To ſtop too fearful, and too faint to go.

   1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 21

   Amid his senses' giddy wheel, / Did he not desperate impulse feel, / Headlong to plunge himself below, / And meet the worst his fears foreshow?— […]

   1810, Walter Scott, “Canto II. The Island.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XXXI, pages 85–86

   As 'twere a hundred-throated nightingale, / The strong tempestuous treble throbb'd and palpitated; / Ran into its giddiest whirl of sound, / Caught the sparkles, and in circles, / Purple gauzes, golden hazes, liquid mazes, / Flung the torrent rainbow round: […]

   1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Vision of Sin”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 214

4. broadlyUnable to concentrate or think seriously; easily excited; impulsive; also, lightheartedly silly; frivolous.

   It may be Gnats, and Flies, haue their Imagination more mutable and giddy, as Small Birds likevviſe haue.

   1631, Francis [Bacon], “VII. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching the Insecta.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 698, page 172

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   The Biſhop, and the Duke of Gloſters men, / Forbidden late to carry any VVeapon, / Haue fill'd their Pockets full of peeble ſtones; / And banding themſelues in contrary parts, / Doe pelt ſo faſt at one anothers Pate, / That many haue their giddy braynes knockt out: […]

   1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 106, column 1

   [I]n this ſtanding vvoodden cheſt, / Conſorted vvith theſe fevv bookes, let me lye / In priſon, and here be coffin'd, vvhen I dye; / […] / Here gathering Chroniclers, and by them ſtand / Giddie fantaſtique Poëts of each land.

   c. 1593–1597, J[ohn] Donne, “[Satyres] Satyre I”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633, →OCLC, page 325

   [I]n briefe, ſince I doe purpoſe to marrie, I vvill think nothing to anie purpoſe that the vvorld can ſaie againſt it: and therfore neuer flout at me, for vvhat I haue ſaid againſt it: for man is a giddie thing, and this is my concluſion: […]

   1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]

   They ſhall recover the miſattended vvords of Chriſt to the ſincerity of their true ſenſe from manifold contradictions, and ſhall open them vvith the key of charity. […] [M]any they ſhall reclaime from obſcure and giddy ſects, many regain from diſſolute and brutiſh licence, many from deſperate hardnes, if ever that vvere juſtly pleaded.

   1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], chapter XXII, in The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, book II, page 82

   Such practices as Theſe, too groſs to lye / Long unobſerv'd by each diſcerning Eye, / The more judicious Iſraelites Unſpell'd, / Though ſtill the Charm the giddy Rabble held, […]

   1682, [Nahum Tate; John Dryden], The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 5

   Synonyms: brainsick, changeable, feather-headed, flighty, giglot, inconsistent, light-headed, overlight

   1. broadlydatedUsed as an intensifier.

      A giddy lot Scudder's friends cared for peace and reform.

      1915 August–September, John Buchan, “The Adventure of the Radical Candidate”, in The Thirty-Nine Steps, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published October 1915, →OCLC, page 97

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      'E isn't one o' the reg'lar Line, nor 'e isn't one of the crew. / 'E's a kind of a giddy harumfrodite—soldier an' sailor too!

      1896, Rudyard Kipling, “[Barrack-Room Ballads.] ‘Soldier an’ Sailor Too’.”, in The Seven Seas, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 171

      I found him pokin' about the place on his own hook afterwards, an' I thought I'd show him the giddy drill. When I found he was so pleased, I wasn't goin' to damp his giddy ardour. He mightn't ha' given me the quid if I had.

      1899 May, Rudyard Kipling, “The Flag of Their Country”, in Stalky & Co., London: Macmillan & Co., published 1899, →OCLC, page 192

      Synonyms: brainsick, changeable, feather-headed, flighty, giglot, inconsistent, light-headed, overlight

5. broadlyJoyfully elated; overcome with excitement or happiness.

   The boy was giddy when he opened his birthday presents.

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   I come by note to giue, and to receiue; / Like one of tvvo contending in a prize, / That thinks he hath done vvell in peoples eyes; / Hearing applauſe and vniuerſall ſhout, / Giddy in ſpirit, ſtill gazing in a doubt, / VVhether thoſe pearles^([sic – meaning peals]) of praiſe be his or no.

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

   But I vvonder, that either theſe good men, or my mamma ſhou'd think, becauſe they may find it pleaſant vvho are come to maturity of judgment, that ſuch as vve vvho are in the gayeſt and giddyeſt part of life ſhou'd.

   1767, “Dialogue I. Between Philip and Henry, Concerning the Importance of Early Religion.”, in The Friendly Instructor; or, A Companion for Young Ladies, and Young Gentlemen: […], 3rd edition, volume II, London: […] J. Buckland, […], →OCLC, page 4

   "I don't know what to do!" cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laocoön of himself with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world. Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!"

   1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 153

   […] Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophizes all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.

   1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Affair at the Novelty Theatre”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC, section 1; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

   Synonyms: ecstatic, joyous, air-headed, blissed out, blissful, enrapt, rapt, cock-a-hoop

6. UKbroadlydialectalFeeling great anger; furious, raging.
7. UKdialectalagricultureOf 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.
8. figurativelyobsoleteOf a thing, especially a ship: unsteady, as if dizzy.

   The giddy Ship ran round; the Tempeſt tore / Her Maſt, and over-board the Rudder bore.

   1700, [John] Dryden, “Ceyx and Alcyone”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 368

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   VVide o'er the vvaſte the rage of Boreas ſvveeps, / And Night ruſh'd headlong on the ſhaded deeps. / Novv here, novv there, the giddy ſhips are born, / And all the rattling ſhrouds in fragments torn.

   1725, Homer, “Book IX”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume II, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 195, lines 77–80

plural giddies

1. archaicSomeone or something that is frivolous or impulsive.

   She seemed born not only to captivate the giddy, but to turn the heads of the sage.

   1838, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Alice or The Mysteries […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book II, page 125

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   But the giddy, the idle, and the frivolous part of the vvorld vvill inceſſantly purſue a phantom, and graſp a ſhadovv.

   1778 September, X. X., “The Observer. Number LVII.”, in The Town and Country Magazine; or, Universal Repository of Knowledge, Instruction, and Entertainment, volume X, London: […] A[rchibald] Hamilton Jun. […]; [a]nd sold by G[eorge] Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 487, column 2

2. UKarchaicagricultureSynonym of gid (“a disease caused by parasitic infestation of the brain by tapeworm larvae”).

   Synonyms: gid

present singular third person giddies · participle present giddying · participle past giddied · past giddied

1. archaictransitiveTo make (someone or something) dizzy or unsteady; to dizzy.

   [T]he hiss of the plunging shot deafening their ear and giddying the brain, with life and liberty beyond, and behind a doom more dread than death, they fled on through the heavy, breathless night.

   1865, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], “Thalassis! Thalassis!”, in Strathmore: A Romance […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 275

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   A nevv faſhion of apparrell creepeth no ſooner into vſe, but preſently he blameth and diſpraiſeth the olde, and that vvith ſo earneſt a reſolution, and vniverſall a conſent, that you vvould ſay, it is ſome kinde of madnes, or ſelfe-fond humor, that giddieth his vnderſtanding.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Of Ancient Customes”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 161

   [T]he footmen vſe it [opium] too as a preſeruer of ſtrength, and vvhich is ſtrangeſt, ſo giddies them, that in a conſtant dreame or dizzineſſe, they run ſleeping not knovving vvhom they meet, and yet miſſe not their intended places: […]

   1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “A Discourse of the Life and Habit of the Persians at this Present”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, page 151

   And indeed her ovvn little head vvas ſo giddied vvith this vvonderful elevation; […] that had ſhe not really been one of the prettieſt figures that can be imagined, ſhe vvould have been inſufferable.

   1751, [John Cleland], “Part I”, in Memoirs of a Coxcomb, London: […] R[alph] Griffiths, […], →OCLC, page 102

2. archaicintransitiveTo become dizzy or unsteady.

   Giddied, he gave up a moment's purchase of ground.

   1981, Nadine Gordimer, July’s People, 1st UK edition, London: Jonathan Cape […], →ISBN, page 98

3. archaicintransitiveobsoleteTo move around something or spin rapidly; to reel; to whirl.

   [B]y chance, a sudden north-wind fetch'd, / With an extreme sea, quite about again / Our whole endeavours, and our course constrain / To giddy round, and with our bow'd sails greet / Dreadful Maleia, calling back our fleet / As far forth as Cythera.

   1614–1615, Homer, “The Ninth Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume I, London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC, page 202, lines 132–137

   Synonyms: vertiginate

1. A surname.