vertiginous

[ ver-tij-uh-nuhs ]
See synonyms for: vertiginousvertiginousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. whirling; spinning; rotary: vertiginous currents of air.

  2. affected with vertigo; dizzy.

  1. liable or threatening to cause vertigo: a vertiginous climb.

  2. apt to change quickly; unstable: a vertiginous economy.

Origin of vertiginous

1
1600–10; <Latin vertīginōsus dizzy, equivalent to vertīgin- (stem of vertīgō) vertigo + -ōsus-ous

Other words from vertiginous

  • ver·tig·i·nous·ly, adverb
  • ver·tig·i·nous·ness, noun
  • un·ver·tig·i·nous, adjective
  • un·ver·tig·i·nous·ly, adverb
  • un·ver·tig·i·nous·ness, noun

Words Nearby vertiginous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use vertiginous in a sentence

  • Ahead of him, as he rose to his feet, the line of guards stood out as paler darknesses against the vertiginous island face.

    The Sensitive Man | Poul William Anderson
  • A vertiginous faintness brought him half tumbling and half rolling back into his chair, wheezing and moist with sweat.

    The Shadow | Arthur Stringer
  • It is only after long internal travail that it moves with vertiginous rapidity.

  • This Tarantula-dance of repetitions and vertiginous argumentation in circulo, begun in imposture and self-consummated in madness!

    Anima Poet | Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • Music was become vertiginous; a mad vortex, wherein whirled mad atoms, madly embracing.

    Melomaniacs | James Huneker

British Dictionary definitions for vertiginous

vertiginous

/ (vɜːˈtɪdʒɪnəs) /


adjective
  1. of, relating to, or having vertigo

  2. producing dizziness

  1. whirling

  2. changeable; unstable

Origin of vertiginous

1
C17: from Latin vertīginōsus, from vertigo

Derived forms of vertiginous

  • vertiginously, adverb
  • vertiginousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012