heady
Americanadjective
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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:
It was heady and unexpected praise for a Chinese winemaker in her early 30s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Mounting yields alone won’t do it, Edwards argues, but they do “leave equity investors increasingly vulnerable to bad news such as a downturn in heady profits optimism.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
And though “Tony” doesn’t entirely lack that heady romanticization, its choice to amplify its introductory quote — making Bourdain an even more insufferable lout for dramatic effect — feels antithetical to Bourdain’s raw candor.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
But social scenes have never been considered a heady topic worthy of deeply reflective documentation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The noise swelled to a steady rumbling roar, a great heady stew of sound.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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
Pulling in front of the AI pack—on its own terms—justifies Alphabet’s headier valuation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
Perhaps the film could have leaned more into being headier, more emotional, have more going on.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2023
Terrific on their own, the fries are headier following a dip in Laser Wolf’s tehina ketchup, charged in part with fermented mango.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2022
It is man's arrogant certainty of his future which makes him impatient of the word "friendship": it cools life to his lips, he so confident that the headier nectar is his due!
From An Englishwoman's Love-Letters by Laurence Housman
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
The next few weeks could be the headiest in Philadelphia sports since Rocky Balboa went the distance, which, depending whom you ask, either does or does not count as a real moment.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 21, 2022
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
He reads newspapers with a relish that is positively amazing; he smacks his lips over them; their contents are to him the headiest romance.
From Peeps at People by Robert Cortes Holliday
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.
