as in giddy
having a feeling of being whirled about and in danger of falling down
the blood donor experienced a reeling sensation after standing up too quickly
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
2
as in staggering
to move forward while swaying from side to side
got off the amusement park ride reeling and barely able to stand
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of reeling
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2025
David Morgan, CBS News, 1 May 2026
Minus Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, both resting after playing in the first game, a makeshift Astros lineup blitzed Orioles right-hander Brandon Young for 10 runs in four innings, building a cushion for a reeling pitching staff.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2026
Her family is reeling from the sudden loss of a woman with a gift for making the people around her feel seen.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
London — Two Jewish men were stabbed in broad daylight in a leafy suburb of north London on Wednesday in what police described as a terrorist incident, further rattling a Jewish community already reeling from a series of antisemitic attacks in the British capital.
—Jomana Karadsheh, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026
Trump is still reeling from being the target of yet another shooting, at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, over the weekend.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 27 Apr. 2026
South and West Side homeowners are already reeling from sharply higher property charges when last year’s round of bills came out.
—A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
The playoffs, so far, have been a quick trip down an elevator shaft, and fans are left reeling by the sudden collapse of the team.
—Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
Psychologically reeling from the death of his military father, Samuel keeps dad’s dogtags close at hand and with an eventual curiosity toward his assault rifle.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
Even if Lee were sober and thinking straight, her alluring, blows-hot-and-cold Betty Jo would be impossible for a guy like Lee — reckless, reeling, distractible — to resist.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2025
Verb
But many travel destinations (and the people who live there) are reeling from increasing numbers of tourists, spurred in large part by social media.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 1 May 2026
Minus Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, both resting after playing in the first game, a makeshift Astros lineup blitzed Orioles right-hander Brandon Young for 10 runs in four innings, building a cushion for a reeling pitching staff.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2026
Her family is reeling from the sudden loss of a woman with a gift for making the people around her feel seen.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
London — Two Jewish men were stabbed in broad daylight in a leafy suburb of north London on Wednesday in what police described as a terrorist incident, further rattling a Jewish community already reeling from a series of antisemitic attacks in the British capital.
—Jomana Karadsheh, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026
Trump is still reeling from being the target of yet another shooting, at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, over the weekend.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 27 Apr. 2026
South and West Side homeowners are already reeling from sharply higher property charges when last year’s round of bills came out.
—A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
The playoffs, so far, have been a quick trip down an elevator shaft, and fans are left reeling by the sudden collapse of the team.
—Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
Psychologically reeling from the death of his military father, Samuel keeps dad’s dogtags close at hand and with an eventual curiosity toward his assault rifle.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reeling
Adjective
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Eurodance with the bass-heavy Swedish genre EPA-dunk and 3Cha—the giddy electronic dance music from Thaiboy’s home region of Isaan in Thailand—to form a new kind of globalist hyperpop.—
Harry Thorfinn-George,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
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Their struggle has upturned the tabletop candle that illuminates the scene and any moment will surely extinguish it, effacing the giddy pattern formed by the writhing bodies and glowing, veiny bladder skin.—
Julian Bell,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Off the coast of Rhode IslandAP — Offshore wind turbines roughly three times the height of the Statue of Liberty were spinning far off the coast of Rhode Island on Thursday, sending clean electricity to the region.—
Jennifer McDermott,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026
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Booth, Guiteau, Czolgosz, Oswald must all be spinning in their graves!—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The bill, which passed with bipartisan support, addressed concerns about giving one party too much power by staggering the new authorizations out over a 0-year period.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
24 Apr. 2026
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The Powell-Herro partnership also was never able to consistently produce positive results, as the Heat was left staggering their minutes by the end of the season.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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By applying lower‑body compression, the garment helps counteract a common condition called orthostatic intolerance that causes astronauts to faint or feel dizzy following an extended mission in microgravity.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The caller hit their head and felt dizzy.—
Nollyanne Delacruz,
Mercury News,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Another neighbor recalled an elevator lurching between floors.—
Elle McLogan,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
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Meanwhile the Caliente Range — those mountains just to the west — are lurching the opposite way.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The magnetar was initially surrounded by a whirling disk of matter, funneling from its inner edge onto the stellar remnant.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Leith emphasizes that Dwell Secure’s functionality extends beyond emergency scenarios, weaving into everyday property management.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
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Never tested in orbit, NASA’s robot could, in theory, perform tasks like weaving solar power stations and antennae in space from spools of carbon fiber.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Reeling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reeling. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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