hornet
Americannoun
-
hornets
plural
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 )
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
So far this year, 205 Asian hornet queens have been caught and nine primary nests destroyed across Guernsey and Herm.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The bee team fighting a murderous hornet invasion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
To investigate whether pond frogs evade or tolerate these potentially lethal stings, Sugiura presented individual adult frogs with workers of three hornet species, Vespa simillima, V. analis, and V. mandarinia, in controlled laboratory trials.
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
I was just mad as a hornet because I knew what was wrong with the car and they wouldn’t let me do anything about it.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
People in Guernsey are being asked to "track" not "trample" Asian hornets in an effort to protect public health and the island's biodiversity.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
"Their work is incredibly important," she said, adding: "With this information we can track hornets back to their nests and ensure that those nests are being treated and removed safely and efficiently."
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The hallways lead to more hallways, the overhead fluorescents whine like hornets.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Curiously, I never really got angry at the North Koreans, on the assumption that if you kick the hornet’s nest and get stung, you can’t really blame the hornets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
It’s the same crew of hornets and surftards that hang out at The Spot, minus the older guys like Fry and Zephyr and Big Foot, who’re probably downstairs.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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.
