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
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Jon Hamilton, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
The timing of the blaze, the threats Goodstein received and the country’s hair-trigger political atmosphere all offered more than a little reason for pause and reflection.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 10 Oct. 2025
Phil Mattingly, CNN Money, 31 July 2025
Thousands of nuclear warheads on a hair trigger were aimed at each nation’s cities and military bases.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 4 July 2025
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Adjective
But Halfmann suspects this hair-trigger system is needlessly killing brain cells in diseases like Alzheimer's.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 16 Oct. 2025
The timing of the blaze, the threats Goodstein received and the country’s hair-trigger political atmosphere all offered more than a little reason for pause and reflection.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 10 Oct. 2025
Noun
Wall Street, however, has in many ways moved on from the initial weeks spent on a perpetual hair trigger.
—Phil Mattingly, CNN Money, 31 July 2025
Thousands of nuclear warheads on a hair trigger were aimed at each nation’s cities and military bases.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 4 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for hair-trigger
Cite this Entry
“Hair-trigger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hair-trigger. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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