how to distinguish the faint, dizzy, giddy and swoon

Question

who can tell me how to use these four words, I can't distinguish clear them~thanks~~

Feebs11 · Accepted Answer

Faint and swoon are synonymous - they both mean to lose consciousness.
Dizzy and giddy are synonymous - they both mean to have the sensation of the world spinning round you so that you lose balance.

OrlandoEnglishTutor · Answer

Just to add a slightly different point of view to this interesting question:

I have almost never heard giddy used as a synonym for dizzy. As an American, I have most often heard "giddy" used to refer to a happy, almost silly mood, rather than a physical or mental state of lost balance or spinning sensation. "I talked to her just after she won the prize, and she was still giddy from the news..." would be a common usage, meaning she was excited, laughing, perhaps distracted/unfocused. Dizzy is used more specifically for the sensation of spinning, and has no happy connotations.

"To swoon" can be synonymous with "to feel faint" -- but in my experience, its most common American usage is figurative rather than literal. Swoon is often used to describe a person's extreme attraction to another person (or perhaps a fur coat or a fancy car!): "All the girls swooned over Elvis Presley, while the guys swooned over his Ferrari."

All four of these words can be used to describe altered states of consciousness brought on by a substance such as alcohol or drugs (medical or illegal), or, with the exception of giddy, by an illness.

"One glass of champagne made Joe giddy, and he began to laugh at the silly movie that had previously seemed not funny but stupid. After the second glass, he found the movie even funnier, although he was feeling a little dizzy, with a spinning feeling inside his head. After the third glass, he started to feel faint, as if he might pass out (lose consciousness). He stood up and felt himself swoon as he walked across the room. He went to bed and passed out, awakening only when the alarm went off the next morning."

--Sandy

how to distinguish the faint, dizzy, giddy and swoon

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