What it means
سرگیجه (sargije) is the everyday Persian word for dizziness or vertigo, that unsteady, spinning sensation in your head. It is built from native Iranian parts: سر (sar, “head”) plus گیجه, from گیج (gij, “dazed, confused”), so quite literally it describes a head that feels muddled. You use it for ordinary lightheadedness and also as the common medical term a doctor would write down. A close relative is گیجی (giji), which leans more toward mental confusion than the physical spinning that سرگیجه usually names.
How to use it
- سرگیجه دارم. (sargije dāram.) “I feel dizzy.”
- یهو سرگیجه گرفتم و نشستم. (yeho sargije gereftam o neshastam.) “I suddenly got dizzy and sat down.”
- این قرص ممکنه باعث سرگیجه بشه. (in ghors momkene bā’ese sargije beshe.) “This pill might cause dizziness.”
- از گرسنگی سرگیجه گرفتم. (az gorosnegi sargije gereftam.) “I got dizzy from hunger.”
Cultural note
In daily speech Iranians most often pair this word with the verb گرفتن (gereftan, “to take, to get”), so سرگیجه گرفتن means “to get dizzy,” while سرگیجه داشتن describes having the ongoing feeling. People commonly connect it to low blood pressure (فشار خون پایین), hunger, or standing up too fast, and a pharmacist or doctor will use the same word, since there is no separate clinical term in ordinary use. The expression also stretches figuratively: someone overwhelmed by too many choices or too much work might say سرگیجه گرفتم, the way an English speaker says “my head is spinning.”