Literary notes about giddiness (AI summary)
In literature, “giddiness” is frequently used to convey both corporeal and emotional disorientation. Authors employ the term to capture the sensation of physical instability—a feeling that can overwhelm characters with a mix of nausea and vertigo, as when it nearly induces fainting or even causes one to tumble unexpectedly [1], [2], [3]. At other times, giddiness is imbued with a more metaphorical quality, symbolizing a light-headed, almost euphoric state that accompanies moments of intense inner passion or impulsiveness, as noted in rhythmic accounts of youthful exuberance [4], [5], [6]. In some narratives, it also underscores the vulnerability of the human mind and body, merging medical or situational realism with a poetic touch [7], [8], [9].
- Something close to nausea came upon them from pure giddiness.
— from The Aliens by Murray Leinster - On July 20, 1865, she became seasick in a gale of wind on the Hudson, and this was followed by an occasional loss of sight and by giddiness.
— from Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle - I had not even the presence of mind, in my giddiness, to retire to Ada in the window, or to see the window, or to know where it was.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - Whenever I go against the wind, my eyes will water; and peradventure my head will burn, and I shall have a giddiness every new moon.
— from The Mabinogion - In one word, we grant plenty of what the King, grown more mature, has described as the ‘giddiness’ of his younger years.”
— from Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia by William Fiddian Reddaway - This giddiness was fraught with deep meaning.
— from The Memoirs of Victor Hugo by Victor Hugo - A painful giddiness overwhelmed Villefort; great drops of acrid sweat fell from his face upon the papers which he held in his convulsed hand.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - Towards mid-day, after this operation, he complained of nausea, giddiness, and malaise .
— from Poisons, Their Effects and Detection A Manual for the Use of Analytical Chemists and Experts by Alexander Wynter Blyth - He was in full possession of his faculties, free from confusion or giddiness, but his hands were still trembling.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
