dizzy
Americanadjective
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having a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall; giddy; vertiginous.
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causing giddiness or confusion.
a dizzy height.
verb (used with object)
adjective
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affected with a whirling or reeling sensation; giddy
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mentally confused or bewildered
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causing or tending to cause vertigo or bewilderment
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informal foolish or flighty
verb
Other Word Forms
- dizzily adverb
- dizziness noun
Etymology
Origin of dizzy
First recorded before 900; Middle English dysy, Old English dysig “foolish”; cognate with Low German düsig “stupefied”
Explanation
When you're dizzy, you have a spinning or woozy sensation — you might even feel like you'l fall over. You'll probably feel dizzy for a while when you get off the whirling tea cup ride at the fair. Some people feel dizzy when they're up high, either on a ladder or at the top of a tall building or bridge. Others only get dizzy when they're coming down with the flu or after riding on the merry-go-round at the park. Another way to be dizzy is to be silly or frivolous: "I can't take him seriously, he's just so dizzy all the time." Dizzy comes from the Old English dysig, "foolish or stupid."
Vocabulary lists containing dizzy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She said she had been at the end of her tether, feeling dizzy and her headlight had gone out.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
And distributors, dizzy from years of surprises and disruption, are hankering for a universally appealing, tried-and-true marketing campaign, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
“Loss can break us. Loss leaves us dizzy with grief and with pain and with rage,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 7, 2026
More than two dozen underage farmworkers and their parents said in interviews that they worked in fields that smelled of chemicals and described feeling sick and dizzy or suffering from skin irritations.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
Eliana was blinking groggily at the room while Serina stood frozen, her eyes flicking from platform to platform so fast I wondered if she was making herself dizzy.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
