woozy

[ woo-zee, wooz-ee ]

adjective

, wooz·i·er, wooz·i·est.

1. stupidly confused; muddled; befuddled:

   woozy from a blow on the head.

2. physically out of sorts, as with dizziness, faintness, or slight nausea:

   He felt woozy after the flu.

3. drunken.

woozy

/ ˈwuːzɪ /

adjective

1. dazed or confused
2. experiencing dizziness, nausea, etc

Derived Forms

• ˈwoozily, adverb
• ˈwooziness, noun

Other Words From

• woozi·ly adverb
• woozi·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of woozy¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1895–1900; perhaps short for boozy-woozy, rhyming compound based on boozy

Word History and Origins

Origin of woozy¹

C19: perhaps from a blend of woolly + muzzy or dizzy

Example Sentences

I’d never been to California at all, so of course in my imagination it was Eden, warm and woozy and comfortable.

From MIT Technology Review

I feel woozy and relaxed, and the vague patterns of light and color I’m used to seeing when I squeeze my eyes closed are more vivid than usual.

From Popular-Science

At 6-foot-7, I’m too big to fail – but I ended up on the floor, woozy and nearly passed out.

From Voice of San Diego

“As soon as the expectation of movement breaks from what you’re doing, people would get woozy,” Arnold said.

From Washington Post

Then, she claims that after she drank the coffee, she felt woozy.

From The Daily Beast

My eyes were woozy as I woke up, and I saw these spindly, veiny legs in slippers and a nightgown.

From The Daily Beast

Somewhere along the way he had likely started feeling bad—light-headed or woozy.

From The Daily Beast

She tells of surrendering to the “woozy charms” of wine coolers and passing out drunk.

From The Daily Beast

Shall I shove it into him through the oil-funnel if he is woozy?

From Project Gutenberg

A man spends his on highballs, and a woman gets woozy on clothes.

From Project Gutenberg

Then when he got woozy one time she up an' told him that she had got a nice long letter from her hubby.

From Project Gutenberg

He pounded two swift punches into the amazed crewman, who responded with a woozy, wild blow.

From Project Gutenberg

I crawled along it as fast as I could—I was about woozy, anyway—and by and by I 'eard the shots go off be'ind me.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• befuddled
• bewildered
• dazed
• giddy
• groggy
• puzzled
• queasy
• shaky
• tipsy
• unsteady
• wobbly