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:
He reminded me that I can be, well, a little bit of an impatient hothead.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
Yet the "hothead" in the headlines is now a head coach described as "Mr Calm".
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2025
This demeanor is unlike the passionate, hothead ready to tell Sokka or any man off in the original.
From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2024
Andrey Rublev: A tennis hothead desperately searching for peace.
From New York Times ● Jan. 15, 2024
Nothing radical, no hothead stuff, just ringing a few doorbells for Gene McCarthy, composing a few tedious, uninspired editorials for the campus newspaper.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
The House Ethics Committee exists, then, to take justice away from hotheads and into a fair process typically run by more levelheaded members, in total privacy.
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026
"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
Meanwhile, the squad is composed of misfits, hotheads, third-year “seniors” and even a narcoleptic tumbler with a solid split.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025
In 1955, drugmaker McNeil gained FDA approval and launched Tylenol Elixir for Children, advertising it "for little hotheads."
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2023
"If they do not come back, these hotheads, how are we to survive? What will happen if the Zebak invade once more? Or if some other dreadful danger threatens?"
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
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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.
