dizzy

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈdɪzi/ UK /ˈdɪzi/ See IPA manual

Freq #5349

Meanings

1

adj
Feeling as if everything is spinning and you might fall over.

I stood up too quickly and suddenly felt dizzy.
2

adj
Making you feel unsteady because of great height or speed.

We climbed to a dizzy height above the valley.
3

adj
Silly, forgetful, or not serious.

She played the part of a dizzy but lovable character.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · feeling as if everything is... woozygiddy

2 adj · making you feel unsteady... dizzying

3 adj · silly, forgetful, or not... silly

Word family

Forms dizzieddizzierdizziesdizziestdizzilydizzinessdizzying

Derived forms dizzarddizziesdizzilydizzinessdizzyingdizzyinglydizzyishspindizzy

Related forms dizz

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

dizzy blonde
a dismissive stereotype of a blonde woman as silly or scatterbrained

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Dizzy comes from Old English, where it meant “foolish.” In the medieval period it developed the sense “having a whirling feeling in the head,” which later gave rise to “scatterbrained.”

Etymology

From Middle English dysy, desy, dusi, from Old English dysiġ (“stupid, foolish”), from Proto-West Germanic *dusīg (“stunned; dazed”), likely from the root of Proto-Germanic *dwēsaz (“foolish, stupid”). Akin to West Frisian dize (“fog”), Dutch deusig, duizig (“dizzy”), duizelig (“dizzy”), German dösig (“sleepy; stupid”).

dysy Middle English dysiġ Old English *dusīg Proto-West Germanic *dwēsaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# dizzy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈdɪzi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdɪzi/
**Frequency rank:** 5349

## Meanings
1. Feeling as if everything is spinning and you might fall over.
2. Making you feel unsteady because of great height or speed.
3. Silly, forgetful, or not serious.

## Examples
- I stood up too quickly and suddenly felt dizzy.
- We climbed to a dizzy height above the valley.
- She played the part of a dizzy but lovable character.

## Derived Forms
- dizzard
- dizzies
- dizzily
- dizziness
- dizzying
- dizzyingly
- dizzyish
- spindizzy

## Related Forms
- dizz

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dysy
- Root: dysiġ
- Root: *dusīg
- Root: *dwēsaz

## Etymology
From Middle English dysy, desy, dusi, from Old English dysiġ (“stupid, foolish”), from Proto-West Germanic *dusīg (“stunned; dazed”), likely from the root of Proto-Germanic *dwēsaz (“foolish, stupid”). Akin to West Frisian dize (“fog”), Dutch deusig, duizig (“dizzy”), duizelig (“dizzy”), German dösig (“sleepy; stupid”).

## AI Etymology
Dizzy comes from Middle English dysy, desy, dusi, from Old English dysiġ (“stupid, foolish”), from Proto-West Germanic *dusīg (“stunned; dazed”), likely from the root of Proto-Germanic *dwēsaz (“foolish, stupid”). Akin to West Frisian dize (“fog”), Dutch deusig, duizig (“dizzy”), duizelig (“dizzy”), German dösig (“sleepy; stupid”). In current use, the main senses are “Feeling as if everything is spinning and you might fall over” and “Making you feel unsteady because of great height or speed”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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