hornet
Americannoun
noun
-
any of various large social wasps of the family Vespidae, esp Vespa crabro of Europe, that can inflict a severe sting
-
a strongly unfavourable reaction (often in the phrase stir up a hornet's nest )
Etymology
Origin of hornet
First recorded before 900; Middle English harnete, Old English hyrnet(u); cognate with Old High German hornaz (becoming German Horniss ); akin to horn
Explanation
A hornet is a flying, buzzing insect with a painful sting. Much larger than bees, hornets look very similar to yellow jackets. Etymologists suspect that hornet comes from an imitative root word (one that resembled a hornet's buzz) combined with horn, from the insect's horn-like stinger. This large wasp builds papery nests and lives in social groups like bees, with dominant queens. Hornets only sting if they're provoked — or if they think their nests are being threatened. Some people are dangerously allergic to their venom, and even without an allergy, you won't enjoy being stung by a hornet.
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.
A new online map has been launched for islanders to report Asian hornet sightings in Jersey.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
This suggests that the frogs in the study may have developed a dual resistance to both the painful and harmful effects of hornet venom, allowing them to successfully hunt and consume hornet workers.
From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2025
As reported in the journal Ecosphere, Sugiura found clear evidence that adult pond frogs actively launched attacks on workers of all three hornet species.
From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2025
Let’s return to one of our original questions: Why don’t our institutions, with the exception of the hornet eradication apparatus, work?
From Slate • Dec. 19, 2024
Henry accelerated; the humming of the propeller shrilled from hornet to wasp, from wasp to mosquito; the speedometer showed that they were rising at the best part of two kilo-metres a minute.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Definitions 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.
