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PlainSpell

giddy

gid·dy/ˈɡɪd.i/adjective

giddy is spelled G-I-D-D-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables (gid·dy). It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, giddy means “Feeling a sense of spinning in the head, causing a perception of unsteadiness and being about to fall down; dizzy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in giddy?

Letters5: G-I-D-D-Y
Syllables2: gid·dy
In writing1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is giddy?

Giddy appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce giddy?

  • UK /ˈɡɪd.i/
  • US /ˈɡɪd.i/
  • US [ˈɡɪɾ.i]

Giddy has 2 syllables, split gid·dy in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-giddy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with giddy?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as giddy from its last stressed vowel (/ɪdi/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of giddy

  • giddier comparative
  • giddiest superlative
  • giddies present, singular, he/she/it
  • giddying participle, present
  • giddied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does giddy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

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

    The man became giddy upon standing up so fast.

  2. 2

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

    They climbed to a giddy height.

  3. 3

    Moving around something or spinning rapidly.

  4. 4

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

  5. 5

    datedUsed as an intensifier.

  6. 6

    Joyfully elated; overcome with excitement or happiness.

    The boy was giddy when he opened his birthday presents.

  7. 7

    UKFeeling great anger; furious, raging.

  8. 8

    UKOf 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.

noun

  1. 1

    archaicSomeone or something that is frivolous or impulsive.

  2. 2

    UKarchaicSynonym of gid (“a disease caused by parasitic infestation of the brain by tapeworm larvae”).

verb

  1. 1

    archaicTo make (someone or something) dizzy or unsteady; to dizzy.

  2. 2

    archaicTo become dizzy or unsteady.

  3. 3

    archaicobsoleteTo move around something or spin rapidly; to reel; to whirl.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Giddy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchétourdi (feeling a sense of spinning in the head…), étourdissant (causing or likely to cause dizziness or a…)
Germanschwindelig (feeling a sense of spinning in the head…), schwindelerregend (causing or likely to cause dizziness or a…), herumrasend, herumwirbelnd (moving around something or spinning rapidly), leichtfertig, flatterhaft (unable to concentrate or think seriously…)
Portuguesetonto (feeling a sense of spinning in the head…), vertiginoso, vortiginoso (causing or likely to cause dizziness or a…)
Spanishmareado, vertiginoso (feeling a sense of spinning in the head…), mareador, mareante (causing or likely to cause dizziness or a…), frívolo (unable to concentrate or think seriously…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does giddy come from?

The adjective is derived from Middle English gidi, gedy, gydy (“demonically controlled or possessed; crazy, insane; foolish, idiotic, ridiculous, unwise; unsure; (rare) dizzy, shaky; (rare) of an animal: crazed, out of control; a fool”) [and other forms], from Old English gidiġ, gydiġ (“possessed by a demon or spirit, insane, mad”), from Proto-West Germanic *gudīg (“ghostly, spirited”, literally “possessed by a god or spirit”), from *god (“god”) + *-ig, *-g (suffix forming adjectives with the senses of being, doing, or having).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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