Giddy

How to spell giddy

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce giddy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does giddy mean?

1. adjectiveFeeling dizzy or unsteady, as if the surroundings are spinning.
2. adjectiveExcited and elated to the point of being unable to behave sensibly.

Giddy in a sentence

• The long climb left her feeling giddy and short of breath.

• The couple were giddy with excitement after signing for their first house.

• Standing up too quickly can make you giddy for a moment.

• News of the promotion left him giddy for the rest of the week.

Where does giddy come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Giddy traces back to the Old English word gydig, which meant insane or possessed, and originally carried the sense of being seized by a god or spirit. The first part is connected to the Germanic root that also gave us the word 'god', so a giddy person was literally 'god-held', someone whose wits had been taken over by a higher power. Over the centuries the religious frenzy faded from the meaning, and by the late medieval period the word had softened to describe being foolish, flighty, or scatterbrained. From there it shifted again to the physical sense of dizziness and the head-spinning feeling we know today, and later still to a cheerful sense of light-hearted excitement. The doubled 'd' and the 'y' ending preserve the old gydig spelling, which is why the modern form keeps two letters where one might be expected.

How the word is built

• gidd- (from Old English gydig: possessed, mad)
• -y (adjective suffix)