Unable to concentrate or think seriously; easily excited; impulsive; also, lightheartedly silly; frivolous.
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The Biſhop, and the Duke of Gloſters men, / Forbidden late to carry any VVeapon, / Haue fill'd their Pockets full of peeble ſtones; / And banding themſelues in contrary parts, / Doe pelt ſo faſt at one anothers Pate, / That many haue their giddy braynes knockt out: […]
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1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 106, column 1:
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[I]n this ſtanding vvoodden cheſt, / Conſorted vvith theſe fevv bookes, let me lye / In priſon, and here be coffin'd, vvhen I dye; / […] / Here gathering Chroniclers, and by them ſtand / Giddie fantaſtique Poëts of each land.
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c. 1593–1597, J[ohn] Donne, “[Satyres] Satyre I”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633, →OCLC, page 325:
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[I]n briefe, ſince I doe purpoſe to marrie, I vvill think nothing to anie purpoſe that the vvorld can ſaie againſt it: and therfore neuer flout at me, for vvhat I haue ſaid againſt it: for man is a giddie thing, and this is my concluſion: […]
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1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:
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It may be Gnats, and Flies, haue their Imagination more mutable and giddy, as Small Birds likevviſe haue.
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1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VII. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching the Insecta.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 698, page 172:
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They ſhall recover the miſattended vvords of Chriſt to the ſincerity of their true ſenſe from manifold contradictions, and ſhall open them vvith the key of charity. […] [M]any they ſhall reclaime from obſcure and giddy ſects, many regain from diſſolute and brutiſh licence, many from deſperate hardnes, if ever that vvere juſtly pleaded.
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1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], chapter XXII, in The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, book II, page 82:
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Such practices as Theſe, too groſs to lye / Long unobſerv'd by each diſcerning Eye, / The more judicious Iſraelites Unſpell'd, / Though ſtill the Charm the giddy Rabble held, […]
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1682, [Nahum Tate; John Dryden], The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 5:
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Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are vvarm, / And make miſtakes for manhood to reform.
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1785, William Cowper, “Tirocinium: Or, A Review of Schools”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 316:
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I can't bear her: she sets up to be natural and is only rude; mistakes insolence for innocence; says everything which comes first to her lips and thinks she is gay when she is only giddy.
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1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VII, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 92:
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[…] Luard began to perform some trick with an ebony pen-holder of Philip's. "Don't play the giddy ox," said Philip. "You'll only break it."
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1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 47: