giddiness

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gid·dy

(gĭd′ē)

adj. gid·di·er, gid·di·est

a. Having a reeling, lightheaded sensation; dizzy.

b. Causing or capable of causing dizziness: a giddy climb to the topmast.

2. Frivolous and lighthearted; flighty: was giddy with excitement at the news.

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.

Word History: Though little trace of a divine provenance can be discerned in its modern meaning, giddy is derived from the same ancient Germanic word (*gudam) that has given us the word God. The Germanic word *gudigaz, formed from the word *gudam, 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," and "uncertain, unstable." Our sense "lighthearted, frivolous" represents the ultimate secularization of giddy.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun	1.	giddiness - an impulsive scatterbrained manner silliness frivolity, frivolousness - the trait of being frivolous; not serious or sensible lightsomeness, lightness - the trait of being lighthearted and frivolous
	2.	giddiness - a reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall dizziness, lightheadedness, vertigo symptom - (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease

giddiness

noun

1. dizziness, vertigo, faintness, light-headedness A wave of giddiness swept over her.

2. flightiness, dizziness, foolishness, frivolity, silliness, capriciousness, ditziness or ditsiness (slang) I put it down to childish giddiness and high spirits.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

giddiness

noun

A sensation of whirling or falling:

dizziness, lightheadedness, vertiginousness, vertigo, wooziness.

Translations

دُوار

závrať

svimmelhed

Schwindel

défaillance faiblesse vertige

svimi

capogiro vertigine

baş dönmesi

头晕

giddiness

[ˈgɪdɪnɪs] N → vértigo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

giddiness

[ˈgɪdinɪs] n → vertige m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

giddiness

(= dizziness) → Schwindelgefühl nt; wave of giddiness → Schwindelanfall m

(fig) → Leichtfertigkeit f, → Unbesonnenheit f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

giddiness

[ˈgɪdɪnɪs] n → vertigini fpl
I had a bout of giddiness → ho avuto un attacco di vertigini

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

giddy

(ˈgidi) adjective

feeling that one is going to fall over, or that everything is spinning round. I was dancing round so fast that I felt quite giddy; a giddy feeling.

ˈgiddily adverb

ˈgiddiness noun

References in classic literature ?

Certainly there be, that delight in giddiness, and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting.

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To think this is giddiness and vertigo to human limbs, and even vomiting to the stomach: verily, the reeling sickness do I call it, to conjecture such a thing.

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They were desirous, however, of ascertaining how this little animal, least of all others subject to giddiness, would endure this experimental voyage.

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Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits of giddiness come over him at times, that he hardly knew what he was doing; and then George said that HE had fits of giddiness too, and hardly knew what HE was doing.

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Her father, contented with laughing at them, would never exert himself to restrain the wild giddiness of his youngest daughters; and her mother, with manners so far from right herself, was entirely insensible of the evil.

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He was in full possession of his faculties, free from confusion or giddiness, but his hands were still trembling.

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The change of movement and position, the sight of the lamps twinkling to the rear, and the smell of damp and mould and rotten straw which clung about the vehicle, wrought in him strange alternations of lucidity and mortal giddiness.

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As for you, Raoul, I am sure it is your fault, some giddiness or folly."

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When Planchet heard the provoking sound of the silver and gold -- when he saw bubbling out of the bags the shining crowns, which glittered like fish from the sweep-net -- when he felt himself plunging his hands up to the elbow in that still rising tide of yellow and white coins, a giddiness seized him, and like a man struck by lightning, he sank heavily down upon the enormous heap, which his weight caused to roll away in all directions.

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It gives me a queer kind of giddiness, makes me feel like laughing and crying all at once," to which her sister-in-law had returned with more than her usual responsiveness: "Yes, it's the most excitin' time of the year, unless it's Christmas."

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He was still sitting there, holding on, with eyes closed, striving to master his giddiness, when he heard her voice.

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"He will sit up late at night, writing his book; and he refuses to take exercise, till headache and giddiness force him to try the fresh air.