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.
Glover particularly misses those test pilot days, when he was pushing the limits of the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet in China Lake while completing a master’s degree on the side.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
What actually takes off from the deck of the aircraft carrier, though, are Super Hornet fighter jets and Seahawk helicopters.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
A half-hour later, according to the Navy, a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet crashed into the South China Sea, also "while conducting routine operations" from the USS Nimitz.
From Barron's • Oct. 27, 2025
Thirty minutes later, an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter crashed into the same waters, the fleet said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025
She sighed deeply, as if she had already had to talk to Hornet too often about her silly parents.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
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.
