LIVE WIRES Synonyms: 55 Similar and Opposite Words

live wires

noun

plural of live wire

as in pistols

a very energetic person the babysitter will have her hands full with those two little live wires

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in powerhouses

an ambitious person who eagerly goes after what is desired that new reporter on the police beat is a real live wire

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 live wires One of the brothers used a carbon-fibre pole while attempting to get the bird down and touched the live wires on the power line, killing him instantly. —

Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 25 Apr. 2026 On the other hand, the Cracker Barrel debacle touched so many live wires of American politics that the story was simply irresistible. —

Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for live wires

Noun

Edgefield, South Carolina, was a slaving town with a violent reputation, a place where men roamed with swords and pistols, ever ready to avenge an insult.

— Rob Wolfe, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
After police spoke to the teen and his family, but before police sought the emergency court order to confiscate guns, the father and his wife voluntarily stored 26 weapons — pistols, rifles and shotguns — with a licensed gun dealer, according to filings in the father’s case.

— Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 May 2026