hair-trig·ger
ˈher-ˌtri-gər 
1
: immediately responsive to the slightest stimulus
a hair-trigger temper
2
: delicately adjusted or easily disrupted
: a gun trigger so adjusted as to permit the firearm to be fired by a very slight pressure
Examples of hair-trigger in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Michael Cieply, Deadline, 1 July 2024
Explain your concerns about the man’s hair-trigger temper and your worry that her child could be caught in the middle of one of his violent episodes — or injured or killed if his fury is aimed directly at the child.
—Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 23 May 2024
Garland’s button-pushing feature seems all too plausible given the climate of hair-trigger anger and bitterness in which America exists today.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
An Adam Sandler character is usually, if belatedly, all about growing up — and changing for the better, even if, as with Billy's journey, that process comes yoked with streaks of hair-trigger hostility and self-doubt.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 23 Oct. 2023
The lonesome detective—with a stern constitution, hair-trigger nonsense detector, and endearing alcohol dependency—is a reliably compelling protagonist, capable of crossing legal lines and meting out justice.
—Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 12 Jan. 2024
But Beijing’s hair-trigger sensitivity to issues regarding ethnic minorities makes aiding Inner Mongolians — whether in China or in Mongolia — complicated.
—Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2023
Even now, the agreement will require delicate communication to hold, as hostages are moved through a hair-trigger war zone and released in batches over four days.
—Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2023
China’s limited experience operating nuclear forces that are on hair-trigger alert makes the potential for accidents or miscalculation even greater.
—M. Taylor Fravel, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2023
The Editors, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2023
Several Middle Eastern conflicts are only a hair trigger away from a major escalation.
—Joost Hiltermann, Foreign Affairs, 1 Aug. 2023
Abbott wears Danny easily and at the requisite scale — his thick accent, his hair trigger, his gnawing befuddlement and vulnerability.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2023
Jittery men can be dangerous even when the hair trigger is metaphorical: Last October, 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson was going tree-to-tree hoping to eradicate invasive lantern flies in her New Jersey hometown when her next-door neighbor called the police.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2023
Long-term stress can mean our fight-or-flight response does its thing on a hair trigger.
—Eleanor Morgan, refinery29.com, 12 Apr. 2023
My senses also had a hair trigger.
—Christy Tending, Longreads, 2 Feb. 2023
As in Faster, Pussycat!, violence erupts on a hair trigger; but unlike the exhilarating drubbings doled out by the Amazonian Varla (Tura Satana), the ones delivered by a testosterone-injecting brute named Geat kill the soul.
—Ed Park, The New York Review of Books, 14 Mar. 2023
One result: nuclear weapons might be put on a hair trigger in crises to minimize the danger of preemption.
—Loren Thompson, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2023
Adjective
Granted, two blips don’t make a trend, even in the hair-trigger world of contemporary Web journalism.
—Michael Cieply, Deadline, 1 July 2024
Explain your concerns about the man’s hair-trigger temper and your worry that her child could be caught in the middle of one of his violent episodes — or injured or killed if his fury is aimed directly at the child.
—Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 23 May 2024
Garland’s button-pushing feature seems all too plausible given the climate of hair-trigger anger and bitterness in which America exists today.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
An Adam Sandler character is usually, if belatedly, all about growing up — and changing for the better, even if, as with Billy's journey, that process comes yoked with streaks of hair-trigger hostility and self-doubt.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 23 Oct. 2023
The lonesome detective—with a stern constitution, hair-trigger nonsense detector, and endearing alcohol dependency—is a reliably compelling protagonist, capable of crossing legal lines and meting out justice.
—Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 12 Jan. 2024
But Beijing’s hair-trigger sensitivity to issues regarding ethnic minorities makes aiding Inner Mongolians — whether in China or in Mongolia — complicated.
—Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2023
Even now, the agreement will require delicate communication to hold, as hostages are moved through a hair-trigger war zone and released in batches over four days.
—Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2023
China’s limited experience operating nuclear forces that are on hair-trigger alert makes the potential for accidents or miscalculation even greater.
—M. Taylor Fravel, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2023
Noun
At the center of the government's proposal is a $100-billion bid to fill 450 nuclear silos in five inland states with hundreds of new nuclear missiles set to launch on hair triggers.
—The Editors, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2023
Several Middle Eastern conflicts are only a hair trigger away from a major escalation.
—Joost Hiltermann, Foreign Affairs, 1 Aug. 2023
Abbott wears Danny easily and at the requisite scale — his thick accent, his hair trigger, his gnawing befuddlement and vulnerability.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2023
Jittery men can be dangerous even when the hair trigger is metaphorical: Last October, 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson was going tree-to-tree hoping to eradicate invasive lantern flies in her New Jersey hometown when her next-door neighbor called the police.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2023
Long-term stress can mean our fight-or-flight response does its thing on a hair trigger.
—Eleanor Morgan, refinery29.com, 12 Apr. 2023
My senses also had a hair trigger.
—Christy Tending, Longreads, 2 Feb. 2023
As in Faster, Pussycat!, violence erupts on a hair trigger; but unlike the exhilarating drubbings doled out by the Amazonian Varla (Tura Satana), the ones delivered by a testosterone-injecting brute named Geat kill the soul.
—Ed Park, The New York Review of Books, 14 Mar. 2023
One result: nuclear weapons might be put on a hair trigger in crises to minimize the danger of preemption.
—Loren Thompson, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hair-trigger.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hair-trigger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hair-trigger. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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