GIDDINESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does giddiness mean? 

• GIDDINESS (noun)
  The noun GIDDINESS has 2 senses:

1. an impulsive scatterbrained manner

2. a reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall

  Familiarity information: GIDDINESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GIDDINESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An impulsive scatterbrained manner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

giddiness; silliness

Hypernyms ("giddiness" is a kind of...):

frivolity; frivolousness (the trait of being frivolous; not serious or sensible)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "giddiness"):

lightness; lightsomeness (the trait of being lighthearted and frivolous)

Derivation:

giddy (lacking seriousness; given to frivolity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A reeling sensation; a feeling that you are about to fall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

dizziness; giddiness; lightheadedness; vertigo

Hypernyms ("giddiness" is a kind of...):

symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)

Derivation:

giddy (having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling)

 Context examples 

I felt a wilting sensation, a sinking at the heart, and, I might just as well say, a giddiness.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) Autonomic symptoms; dry mouth, flushing, pallor, tendency to sweat, giddiness, tension, headache, raising of hair.

(HAMA - Autonomic Symptoms, NCI Thesaurus)

He was very weak and was afflicted with a giddiness which at times blinded him.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A disorder characterized by a disturbing sensation of lightheadedness, unsteadiness, giddiness, spinning or rocking.

(Dizziness, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

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.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Here I sat for some time, five hundred yards from the ground, expecting every moment to be blown down by the wind, or to fall by my own giddiness, and come tumbling over and over from the ridge to the eaves; but an honest lad, one of my nurse’s footmen, climbed up, and putting me into his breeches pocket, brought me down safe.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

He hopped and bobbed clumsily along on his injured ankle, throwing stones and screaming hoarsely at times; at other times hopping and bobbing silently along, picking himself up grimly and patiently when he fell, or rubbing his eyes with his hand when the giddiness threatened to overpower him.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)