Definition of "giddy"

Feeling a sense of spinning in the head, causing a perception of unsteadiness and being about to fall down; dizzy.  quotations  examples

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

Moving around something or spinning rapidly.  quotations  examples

(by extension)

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

   Quotations

   • 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, [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, 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, [Act V, scene iv]

   • 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 […], paragraph 698, page 172

   • 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.], 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. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], page 5

   • The tumult in her mind ſeemed not yet abated; ſhe ſaid tvventy giddy things that looked like joy, and then laughed loud at her ovvn vvant of meaning.

     1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “The Description of a Person Discontented with the Present Government, and Apprehensive of the Loss of Our Liberties”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […]; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885, page 213

   • Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are vvarm, / And make miſtakes for manhood to reform.

     1785, William Cowper, “Tirocinium: Or, A Review of Schools”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], page 316

   • I can't bear her: she sets up to be natural and is only rude; mistakes insolence for innocence; says everything which comes first to her lips and thinks she is gay when she is only giddy.

     1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VII, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], book V, page 92

   • […] Luard began to perform some trick with an ebony pen-holder of Philip's. "Don't play the giddy ox," said Philip. "You'll only break it."

     1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, page 47

   1. (dated) Used as an intensifier.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • '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. […], 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, page 192

      • 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, page 97

2. Joyfully elated; overcome with excitement or happiness.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, [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, […], 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. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], 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, 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

3. (Britain, dialectal) Feeling great anger; furious, raging.  examples

(Britain, dialectal, agriculture, veterinary medicine) 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.  examples

(obsolete, figuratively) Of a thing, especially a ship: unsteady, as if dizzy.  quotations

Someone or something that is frivolous or impulsive.  quotations  examples

(Britain, agriculture, veterinary medicine) Synonym of gid (“a disease caused by parasitic infestation of the brain by tapeworm larvae”)  examples

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

(intransitive)

1. To become dizzy or unsteady.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

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

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

2. (obsolete) To move around something or spin rapidly; to reel; to whirl.  quotations

   Quotations

   • [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; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume I, London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, page 202, lines 132–137