hothead
Americannoun
-
hotheads
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hothead
Explanation
A hothead is someone who's suddenly and easily angered or agitated. It's usually a hothead who starts a riot or turns a peaceful protest violent. A friend who seems calm one minute and furious the next is a hothead — and if you've ever witnessed a "road rage" incident involving an unreasonably angry driver, you know how unpredictable a hothead can be. This useful noun has been around since the 17th century, influenced by the Old English equivalent, hatheort or "hot heart," and Elizabethan English's hot-brain.
Vocabulary lists containing hothead
My Brother Sam is Dead
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On the Come Up
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"Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Yet the "hothead" in the headlines is now a head coach described as "Mr Calm".
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2025
A young hothead named Matteo was sick of playing nice.
From Slate ● Dec. 15, 2024
Andrey Rublev: A tennis hothead desperately searching for peace.
From New York Times ● Jan. 15, 2024
A Serbian hothead pops off a Habsburg archduke during a trip to the Balkans in 1914: Why should I care in Iowa?
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
I don’t think my bad disposition was to blame for all of it, because I was a good husband, nothing like the hothead I had been when I was a bachelor.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
"There are many of us on both sides trying to calm down all those hotheads from both camps who enjoy spreading irresponsible claims, lots of 'fake news' and plenty of insults," Daouda said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
Surely it’s more enjoyable to read novels and spend time with grandchildren than to scrap with culture war hotheads or stay up late into the night to hash out a vote.
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2024
“Should hotheads in the navy act in the belief they will automatically receive support from the other services, they could find themselves isolated,” the CIA briefer told Nixon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
In 1955, drugmaker McNeil gained FDA approval and launched Tylenol Elixir for Children, advertising it "for little hotheads."
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2023
“I fear for you two hotheads, mixing yourselves up with dangerous business. What if these men catch you spying on them? It would go hard with you.”
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
