vertiginous

[ ver-tij-uh-nuhs ]

adjective

1. whirling; spinning; rotary:

   vertiginous currents of air.

2. affected with vertigo; dizzy.
3. liable or threatening to cause vertigo:

   a vertiginous climb.

4. apt to change quickly; unstable:

   a vertiginous economy.

vertiginous

/ vɜːˈtɪdʒɪnəs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or having vertigo
2. producing dizziness
3. whirling
4. changeable; unstable

Derived Forms

• verˈtiginousness, noun
• verˈtiginously, adverb

Other Words From

• ver·tigi·nous·ly adverb
• ver·tigi·nous·ness noun
• unver·tigi·nous adjective
• unver·tigi·nous·ly adverb
• unver·tigi·nous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vertiginous¹

1600–10; < Latin vertīginōsus dizzy, equivalent to vertīgin- (stem of vertīgō ) vertigo + -ōsus -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of vertiginous¹

C17: from Latin vertīginōsus, from vertigo

Example Sentences

There’s the satisfying meat and potatoes of exploration at Castle Ensis, with vertiginous balustrades and winding ramparts that cross over and under themselves in impossible architectural configurations.

From New York Times

The effect can be vertiginous—so the way people avoid being nauseated is by trying to ignore the dissonance.

From Salon

It would be easy to attribute Tems’s vertiginous career trajectory to divine intervention.

From New York Times

Have the media learned their lessons, and are journalists ready for the vertiginous slog of the 2024 campaign?

From Salon

It is perhaps unsurprising that someone living in that compressed, vertiginous metropolis would develop an attunement to the particularities of scale.

From New York Times