Giddy
Pronunciation
- US IPA: /gɪdi/
- Rhymes: -ɪdi
Origin
From Middle English gidi, gydi ("foolish"), from Old English gydiġ ("possessed by a spirit or demon, mad, insane"), from Proto-Germanic *gudīgaz ("ghostly, spirited"), equivalent to god + -y.
Full definition of giddy
Adjective
giddy
- Dizzy, feeling dizzy or unsteady and as if about to fall down.The man became giddy upon standing up so fast.
- Causing dizziness: causing dizziness or a feeling of unsteadiness.They climbed to a giddy height.
- Lightheartedly silly, or joyfully elated.
- 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 2, Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises 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.
- The boy was giddy when he opened his birthday presents.
- (archaic) Frivolous, impulsive, inconsistent, changeable.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, ,In brief, since I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any purpose that the world can say against it; and therefore never flout at me for what I have said against it, for man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion.
- 1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium; or, A Review of SchoolsYoung heads are giddy and young hearts are warm,And make mistakes for manhood to reform.