half-cocked

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of half-cocked That cycle has lasted decades, a past strewn with half-cocked plans, bankruptcies, struggling businesses, recriminations, and a neighborhood that refuses to give up on itself or surrender its personality. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 21 May 2025 And yet, all of a sudden, there was the commotion typical of when a manager walks into a room deep in a stadium as reporters rush to put their phones on the desk and stumble awkwardly, laptops half-cocked, back to their seats. James Horncastle, The Athletic, 30 Dec. 2024 The way reason permeated the front offices has bled onto the field, and the players are more reasonable, more rational and not likely to go off half-cocked. Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 25 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for half-cocked
Adjective
  • At work instead is a kind of half-baked feminist phrenology.
    Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025
  • The show follows a half-baked film major (Settel) from LA, who is sent to NYC to stay with- and make a documentary about- his uncle (Feitelberg), a supposedly ultra-suc-cessful Broadway actor.
    Justin Kroll, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Given the state of the Windows threat landscape, that would be ill-advised.
    Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 4 Sep. 2025
  • However, long-term makeup storage is ill-advised.
    Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The elder Hendrix sued Branton in 1993, claiming that the business had been mismanaged and that the attorney conducted unauthorized transactions.
    Mike Alleyne Ph.D, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
  • This rampant, unauthorized AI use degrades the educational experience of individual students who overly rely on the technology and those who wish to avoid using it.
    Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Mid-century collective behavior theories considered social movements to be nonrational, spontaneous events occurring during moments of social and cultural breakdown.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 10 Sep. 2025
  • This bill would entrench West Oakland and many other neighborhoods across the state as sacrifice zones, forcing us to deal with toxic chemicals and spontaneous fires for the sake of corporate profits.
    Brian Beveridge, Mercury News, 10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Each motion of his swing, once dissected, felt mechanical rather than instinctive.
    Zach Sweet, Kansas City Star, 9 Sep. 2025
  • When role demands match instinctive strengths, work feels like swimming with the current instead of against it.
    Carrie Moore, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Half-cocked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/half-cocked. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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