what does head over heels mean

“Head over heels” is an idiom that usually means being completely and sometimes suddenly in love or infatuated with someone.

Core meaning

• It most often means “madly in love” or “completely in love.”

• It can also suggest being swept up, dizzy, or disoriented by strong feelings, especially romantic ones.

Example:

He fell head over heels for her the first week they met.

Other, more literal sense

• There is also an older, literal sense: moving or tumbling so that your head goes over your heels, like in a somersault or a fall.

• You might see it in sentences like: “He tripped and went head over heels down the hill.”

Origin in brief

• The original phrase was “heels over head” in Middle English, describing someone upside down or tumbling.

• Over time (1700s–1800s), it flipped to “head over heels” and shifted toward the meaning “totally/completely,” especially in love.

TL;DR: When someone says they’re “head over heels” (usually “head over heels in love”), it means they’re deeply, completely, often crazily in love with someone.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.