Giddy definition | Dictionary.com

gid⋅dy

[gid-ee]

adjective, -di⋅er, -di⋅est, verb, -died, -dy⋅ing.

–adjective

1.	affected with vertigo; dizzy.

2.	attended with or causing dizziness: a giddy climb.

3.	frivolous and lighthearted; impulsive; flighty: a giddy young person.

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

4.	to make or become giddy.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME gidy, OE gidig mad (as var. of *gydig), deriv. of god God, presumably orig. “possessed by a divine being”

Related forms:

gid⋅di⋅ly, adverb

gid⋅di⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. lightheaded, vertiginous. 3. unstable, volatile, fickle, inconstant, vacillating.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Giddy

gid·dy (gĭd'ē)

adj. gid·di·er, gid·di·est

1. Having a reeling, lightheaded sensation; dizzy.
2. Causing or capable of causing dizziness: a giddy climb to the topmast.
Frivolous and lighthearted; flighty.

intr. & tr.v. gid·died, gid·dy·ing, gid·dies
To become or make giddy.

[Middle English gidi, crazy, from Old English gidig; see gheu(ə)- in Indo-European roots.]
gid'di·ly adv., gid'di·ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean producing a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall: a giddy precipice; a dizzy pinnacle; a vertiginous height.

Word History: The word giddy refers to fairly lightweight experiences or situations, but at one time it had to do with profundities. Giddy can be traced back to the same Germanic root *gud- that has given us the word God. The Germanic word *gudigaz formed on this root meant "possessed by a god." Such possession can be a rather unbalancing experience, and so it is not surprising that the Old English descendant of *gudigaz, gidig, meant "mad, possessed by an evil spirit," or that the Middle English development of gidig, gidi, meant the same thing, as well as "foolish; mad (used of an animal); dizzy; uncertain, unstable." Our sense "lighthearted, frivolous" represents the ultimate secularization of giddy.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Giddy

Gid"dy\, a. [Compar. Giddier; superl. Giddiest.] [OE. gidi mad, silly, AS. gidig, of unknown origin, cf. Norw. gidda to shake, tremble.]

1. 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.

By giddy head and staggering legs betrayed. --Tate.

2. Promoting or inducing giddiness; as, a giddy height; a giddy precipice. --Prior.

Upon the giddy footing of the hatches. --Shak.

3. Bewildering on account of rapid turning; running round with celerity; gyratory; whirling.

The giddy motion of the whirling mill. --Pope.

4. Characterized by inconstancy; unstable; changeable; fickle; wild; thoughtless; heedless. "Giddy, foolish hours." --Rowe. "Giddy chance." --Dryden.

Young heads are giddy and young hearts are warm. --Cowper.

Giddy

Gid"dy\, v. i. To reel; to whirl. --Chapman.

Giddy

Gid"dy\, v. t. To make dizzy or unsteady. [Obs.]

Language Translation for : Giddy

Spanish: vertiginoso; mareado,

German: schwindelig,

Japanese: めまいがする

More Translations »

giddy

O.E. gidig, variant of *gydig "insane, mad, stupid, possessed by a spirit," probably from P.Gmc. *guthigaz, from *guthan "god" + *-ig "possessed." Meaning "having a confused, swimming sensation" is from 1570.

Main Entry: gid·dy
Pronunciation: 'gid-E
Function: adjective
Inflected Forms: gid·di·er; -est
1 : DIZZY <giddy from the unaccustomed exercise>
2 : affected with gid <giddy sheep> —gid·di·ness /-n&s/ noun

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