giddy

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Feeling a sense of spinning in the head, causing a perception of unsteadiness and being…

   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.
   • I wish you wouldn't keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you make one quite giddy.
2. 2

   Causing or likely to cause dizziness or a feeling of unsteadiness.

   • They climbed to a giddy height.
   • [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.
   • VVilt thou vpon the high and giddy maſſe, / Seale vp the ſhip-boies eies, and rocke his braines, […]
3. 3

   Moving around something or spinning rapidly.

   • To ſpoil Antiquities of hammerd ſteele, / And turn the giddy round of Fortunes vvheele.
   • So vvhirls a VVheel, in giddy Circle toſt, / And rapid as it runs, the ſingle Spokes are loſt.
   • 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.
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   1. 4

      Unable to concentrate or think seriously

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

      • [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.
   2. 5

      Joyfully elated

      Joyfully elated; overcome with excitement or happiness.

      • The boy was giddy when he opened his birthday presents.
      • 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.
   3. 6

      Feeling great anger

      Feeling great anger; furious, raging.

   4. 7

      Of an animal, chiefly a sheep

      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.

   5. 8

      Of a thing, especially a ship

      Of 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.
      • 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.
   6. 9

      Someone or something that is frivolous or impulsive.

      • But the giddy, the idle, and the frivolous part of the vvorld vvill inceſſantly purſue a phantom, and graſp a ſhadovv.
      • She seemed born not only to captivate the giddy, but to turn the heads of the sage.
   7. 10

      Synonym of gid (“a disease caused by parasitic infestation of the brain by tapeworm…

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

   8. 11

      To make (someone or something) dizzy or unsteady

      To make (someone or something) dizzy or unsteady; to dizzy.

      • [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: […]
      • 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.
   9. 12

      To become dizzy or unsteady.

      • Giddied, he gave up a moment's purchase of ground.
   10. 13

       To move around something or spin rapidly

       To move around something or spin rapidly; to reel; to whirl.

   11. 14

       A surname.

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