Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
😵 Dizzy or confused 🌀 Spinning fast 🎠 A spinning toy 🚁 A helicopter
whirly

whirly

1 7.1
Moving quickly in circles like a spinning top
  • adjective
  • /ˈwɜrli/
  • Informal
translation icon : giratorio
  • During the fair, we rode the whirly coaster, which made us feel like we were flying in circles.

Examples

  • The colorful kite danced in the sky, making whirly patterns as the wind picked up.

  • The children laughed as they spun around in their whirly chairs, feeling dizzy from the fun.

  • OK, Now the idea is to wrap the curly whirly around the cable.

  • These streets are like these narrows, like whirly curly streets, like bumps and stuff.

  • Oh, my God, I'm going to go back with this blending brush and just kind of swirly, whirly, messily get everything together.

Synonyms

spinny
vswhirly
  • Informal
2 6.7

Turning round quickly so you feel dizzy

is neutral rapid circular motion without playful or dizzy connotation
twirly
vswhirly
1 4.9

Having curls or a shape that turns when moved

means active rapid circular movement rather than just appearance or tendency
awhirl
vswhirly
  • Literature
8.8

Spinning or moving quickly in a circle

can also mean making something else spin rapidly rather than just moving
aswirl
vswhirly
7.8

Full of spinning movement or lively activity

focuses on actual rapid circular movement rather than figurative excitement

Antonyms

still
∞ 1.0

Not moving or making a sound

stationary
46 2.9

Not moving and staying in one place

How Fast

whirly
  • Informal
1 7.1
rotation
54 2.8
turning
22 2.5

Surface Forms

whirly positive

Morphology

whirly = whirl (transparent) = whirl + y

Clearly built from 'whirl' + '-y' to mean 'causing or performing a whirl/rotation'.

Etymology

Whirly comes from the word whirl, which means 'to spin' and appears in words like whirlwind and whirligig. That's why whirly describes something that spins or moves quickly in circles.