hotspur
noun
an impetuous or reckless person; a hothead.
hotspur
American
[hot-spur]
/ ˈhɒtˌspɜr /
noun
-
hotspurs
plural
Hotspur
1
British
/ ˈhɒtˌspɜː /
noun
hotspur
2
British
/ ˈhɒtˌspɜː /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hotspur
1425–75; late Middle English; after Sir Henry Percy, to whom it was applied as a nickname
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:
More significant men of his time can be discussed without passion because they are inextricably woven into a tapestry of the past, but this hotspur refuses to die.
From Reuters ● Jan. 11, 2013
“You try telling that hotspur Phaeton why he was reined in, or rosy-fingered Aurora why I had to shove her in the face,” Hermes archly tells the reader.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2010
Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, the hotspur of the Arab world, barged into the internal problems of another nation for the second time in two weeks.
From Time Magazine Archive
His extraordinary behavior, manifested in a supreme disregard for social etiquette, won for him the sobriquet of "the hotspur of Europe," and the conviction that he was mad.
From Time Magazine Archive
Karl is a hotspur whose emotions are always keyed up to the highest pitch; he is never calm and is incapable of sober reasoning.
From The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller by Calvin Thomas
The 33-year-old's glory at the London Palladium on Monday is fitting reward for an exemplary career that has seen records fall at his feet for England, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
He returned to the Premier League in 2021 when he replaced Jose Mourinho at Tottenham Hotspur.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega says he intends to stand as a candidate in next year's Fifa presidential election.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The league's first season could begin next summer and its first 'talent qualifier' was held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday, with GB players among the 57 international hopefuls showcasing their skills.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
When he saw Henry and Hotspur fighting, Falstaff, instead of making off in a panic, stayed to take his chance if Hotspur should be the victor.
From Oxford Lectures on Poetry by Andrew Cecil Bradley
The hotspurs among the water-patriots dream of a first-class navy which might rival, yes, even surpass the British fleet.
From What Germany Thinks The War as Germans see it by Thomas F. A. Smith
I can’t even have due respect for them, these indiscreet hotspurs.
From The Goose Man by Allen Wilson Porterfield
Events temporarily showed that the kaiser concurred more in his view than that of the hotspurs.
From The Story of the Great War, Volume IV (of 8) Champagne, Artois, Grodno; Fall of Nish; Caucasus; Mesopotamia; Development of Air Strategy; United States and the War by Francis Trevelyan Miller
So that the cry "Fifty-four Forty or Fight" meant that these hotspurs demanded the whole of Oregon or war with Great Britain.
From This Country of Ours by H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth) Marshall
But the Southern hotspurs, who understood the vacillating old man, threatened secession and general ruin unless he adopted their program.
From Life of Stephen A. Douglas by William Gardner
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