heady
Americanadjective
-
intoxicating.
a heady wine.
-
affecting the mind or senses greatly.
heady perfume.
-
exciting; exhilarating.
the heady news of victory.
- Antonyms:
- disappointing, depressing
-
rashly impetuous.
heady conduct.
-
violent; destructive.
heady winds.
-
clever; shrewd.
a heady scheme to win the election.
adjective
-
(of alcoholic drink) intoxicating
-
strongly affecting the mind or senses; extremely exciting
-
rash; impetuous
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heady
First recorded in 1350–1400, heady is from the Middle English word hevedy, hedy. See head, -y 1
Explanation
Something that's heady is extremely thrilling. You might have a heady feeling as you walk up on stage to get your high school diploma. Use the adjective heady to describe a sensation that is so exciting it makes you a little dizzy, a bit like being intoxicated. You could talk about the heady scent of your mom's rose garden or the heady feeling of winning the state spelling bee. The fourteenth century meaning of heady was "headstrong or impetuous," and it's sometimes still used in this way. By the 1570's, it had also come to mean "apt to go to the head," or "exhilarating."
Vocabulary lists containing heady
The Great Gatsby
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"The Wife of Bath's Tale," Vocabulary from the narrative poem
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The Bluest Eye
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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.
See Examples For:
Big picture: The economy entered the fourth quarter with a heady dose of momentum.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Event founder Vanessa Fullerton-Batten said she wanted to let people enjoy "music that transports you back to those heady days of the '90s club dancefloors - but in the morning".
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
EA took shape as a decentralized movement during the heady, techno-optimistic days of the late 2000s and early 2010s -- when many believed social media and smartphones would promote empathy and democracy.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
“There was something heady and intoxicating about the feeling of riding on a cloud that even the most logical and rational. . . could not deny.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The smell of the mead of poetry was heady on the air.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
He made those earlier this year to launch the biggest IPO ever in June, a headier period that has now given way to the more down-to-earth reality of executing on the strategy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Nothing like the durable consolations of late-life romance, but headier, more exciting and, in the worst cases, far more damaging.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
This is the type of movie that serves as an amuse-bouche to proper, headier dramas for the PG-13 crowd, and its bespoke accessibility is thoroughly appealing.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2026
It’s pressure because you can’t be playing at a higher level with a headier crowd of luminaries around you.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2023
His look had come back to her face and dwelt there speaking for him a language headier than that of his tongue.
From Hidden Creek by Katharine Newlin Burt
Fox Corp. sat out the headiest days of the streaming boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
“He’s one of the headiest baseball players I’ve ever been around,” said Roberts of Hernández.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
It was one of the headiest plays of the day in the Kraken’s first scrimmage, one where Donskoi’s White team defeated the Blue team 5-1.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2021
You’ll want to make space for substance at what has become the headiest of Washington steakhouses.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2016
Finest, coolest, headiest thing I ever seen done with a hoss in a pinch.
From Bull Hunter by Max Brand
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
