vertiginous

adjective

ver·tig·i·nous (ˌ)vər-ˈti-jə-nəs

Synonyms of vertiginous next

: characterized by or suffering from vertigo or dizziness

: inclined to frequent and often pointless change : inconstant

: causing or tending to cause dizziness

the vertiginous heights

: marked by turning : rotary

the vertiginous motion of the earth

vertiginously adverb

Did you know?

It is generally necessary to avoid crowded rooms and the vertiginous influence of the dance, one 19th-century medical work advised. We're not sure what condition this advice was aimed at, but it may well have been "vertigo," a disordered state characterized by whirling dizziness. "Vertiginous," from the Latin vertiginosus, is the adjective form of "vertigo," which in Latin means a turning or whirling action. Both words descend from the Latin verb vertere, meaning "to turn." ("Vertiginous" and "vertigo" are just two of an almost dizzying array of "vertere" offspring, from "adverse" to "vortex.") The "dizzying" sense of "vertiginous" is often used figuratively, as in "vertiginous medical discoveries may drastically change life in the 21st century."

Examples of vertiginous in a Sentence

a 3-D effect that is likely to leave some audience members feeling vertiginous

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Set to music, the fountains sway and shimmy, shooting high into the night sky, sometimes aflame, in a vertiginous frenzy. —

William O'Connor, Travel + Leisure, 30 Oct. 2024 By our reckoning, future scholars of tennis’s vertiginous rise in prestige—with investment by luxury brands both the cause and the effect—may well cite, as another major catalytic moment, one from a few years earlier. —

Nick Scott, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2024 Wells is attempting to capture the vertiginous pull of history, perhaps best expressed in Round Quilt (1987), in which a circular pool of various fabrics seems to be swirling down a drain. —

Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024 Following, 10 takeaways from what looks like its biggest edition ever in star wattage, the caliber of Spanish filmmaking, and the number of deals reported by Variety, set in the context of vertiginous change in international independent film and TV landscape. —

John Hopewell, Variety, 27 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for vertiginous