trigger-happy
adjective
ready to fire a gun at the least provocation, regardless of the situation or probable consequences.
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trigger happy
trigger happyInclined to act violently at the slightest provocation, as in They feared that the President was trigger happy and would send in troops at the drop of a hat. This expression alludes to being too eager to fire a gun. [c. 1940]
trigger-happy
American
[trig-er-hap-ee]
/ ˈtrɪg ərˌhæp i /
adjective
Informal.
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ready to fire a gun at the least provocation, regardless of the situation or probable consequences.
a trigger-happy hunter.
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heedless and foolhardy in matters of great importance and recklessly advocating action that can result in war.
Some called him a trigger-happy candidate.
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eager to point out the mistakes or shortcomings of others; aggressively or wantonly critical.
He's a trigger-happy editor with a nervous blue pencil.
trigger-happy
British
adjective
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tending to resort to the use of firearms or violence irresponsibly
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tending to act rashly or without due consideration
trigger happy
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of trigger-happy
First recorded in 1940–45
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:
A victim of government-sanctioned culling, trigger-happy farmers and rising road traffic, by 2002 the Iberian lynx was on the verge of extinction, with just 94 cats left in their natural habitat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
It is designed to weed out the insecure and trigger-happy, the reckless hotheads with something to prove.
From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2026
Don’t get trigger-happy and sell because of headlines.
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
This trigger-happy litigiousness is lampooned in a satirical “60 Minutes” segment in which CBS-style anchors nervously report on protests against “the president, who is a great man.”
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2025
However, a couple of trigger-happy vedettes let off their carbines at them, yelled, "The Rebs are coming!" and galloped for the schoolhouse.
From Rebel Raider by H. Beam Piper
This is a subtle distinction, but a distinction Burnham's allies do point to – to again seek to emphasise he is not trigger happy, he is not seeking to get ahead of himself.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
“Nah ah / Don’t get, don’t get trigger happy with me, Claudine.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
But opponents fear people will become trigger happy and not take other precautions against bears.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
“I feel like in the first half I was a little antsy, and I was a little trigger happy just by being excited and being in the atmosphere,” Hemby said.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 10, 2023
They are no more or less likely to be corrupt or trigger happy than anyone else in the MCSO, but that might not be saying much.
From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2013
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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.
