hotshot

noun

hot·​shot ˈhät-ˌshät 

plural hotshots

1

: a talented or successful person who often has a showy or flashy manner

There are, of course, people here who believe that most Washington hotshots, journalistic as well as governmental, are fatly overpaid already …

—Meg Greenfield

… some young hotshots are leaving mutual funds … to set up hedge funds at a rate of more than one a day.

—Mitchell Pacelle

—often used before another noun

a hotshot actor

These days, the only teasing that Leinart gets is from friends who tell him that he doesn't take advantage of being a hotshot college quarterback.

—Phil Taylor

2

: a person trained to fight forest fires especially in remote areas

As a hotshot, his job was to rappel from helicopters into wildfires across the country.

—Anton L. Delgado and Dustin Patar

—often used before another noun

[Firefighter Zachary] Resnick said his hotshot crew used to get a break fighting wildfires from late November to late spring. Now, they're on duty nearly year-round.

—Lilia Luciano

3

: a fast freight train

First is a hotshot, LADAF, an automobile and trailer train from Los Angeles to Dallas ("F" stands for Forwarder). Its route through Texas is roundabout, so LADAF has to really move, and move it does …

—Fred W. Frailey

Synonyms

• expert
• master
• scholar
• adept
• virtuoso
• wizard
• guru
• artist
• ace

Examples of hotshot in a Sentence

The company has hired a couple of young hotshots to revamp its advertising campaign.

That guy thinks he's a real hotshot.

Recent Examples on the Web

What happens to Joshua Pearce? After clashing on and off the track, Sonny and Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) — a hotshot rookie with raw talent and an ego to match — finally start to gel at the Hungarian Grand Prix. —Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 1 July 2025

His past is tough to outrace, though, and his biggest competition might be his own teammate, the hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce (Idris). —Nada Aboul Kheir, Deadline, 24 June 2025

The fact that Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer's rival hotshots can be friends means there's hope for all of us. —Brian Truitt, USA Today, 21 June 2025

There were additional engines, a hotshot crew and aircraft en route to the fire Wednesday evening. —Katie Langford, Denver Post, 19 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for hotshot

• allot
• barat
• begot
• besought
• bethought
• bloodshot
• boycott
• buckshot
• crackpot
• croat
• culottes
• dashpot

Kids Definition

hotshot

noun

hot·​shot ˈhät-ˌshät 

: a showily skillful person