trigger-happy

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 trigger-happy With concern solidifying around Mexico’s role as a pipeline for Chinese products, the president-elect may have another reason to adopt a trigger-happy stance on duties—and a review of USMCA. Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019 The screenplay even pays tribute to the island’s anti-fascist heritage with an elderly, trigger-happy partisan shooting from her balcony and singing Communist songs with the Mayor. Alissa Simon, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024 Dancing next to the procession of kids and the trigger-happy xylophone infant. Raven Smith, Vogue, 22 July 2024 On the other hand, post-Soviet Russia’s nuclear strategy seemed more trigger-happy than before. Olga Oliker, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2018 See All Example Sentences for trigger-happy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trigger-happy
Adjective
  • He’s paired, in dance and as a love interest, with a belligerent Parisian principal, Gabin Roux (Ivan du Pontavice).
    Judy Berman, Time, 23 Apr. 2025
  • This term around, Trump has spoken in belligerent tones.
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • By then, though, Orbán was governing as a pugnacious ultranationalist.
    Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
  • The past three years have seen Eddie Howe and his staff transform them into one of the more pugnacious and potent threats in the Premier League.
    Carl Anka, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Polls conducted over decades show that Americans fear a leader who is bellicose or too tough.
    Karlyn Bowman, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
  • While rejecting his successor George Gascón’s move to support a resentencing of the brothers, plus dashing their hopes for a new trial in recent weeks, Hochman today made a point outside the courthouse of trying to tone down his previous bellicose stance.
    Dominic Patten, Deadline, 17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Despite this, the sport has a cultural history, especially among those who appreciate the aesthetic and combative qualities of the fish.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 3 May 2025
  • Its combative response is a blunt sign of the administration’s intention to double down and defy the courts.
    Natalie Proulx, New York Times, 1 May 2025
Adjective
  • The bottom line: Bipartisanship is the most obvious casualty of Schumer's new warlike posture toward the GOP.
    Hans Nichols, Axios, 21 Mar. 2025
  • Freyja, however, is a more warlike goddess, and even has a part in selecting warriors for her hall in the afterlife.
    Erik Kain, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • But in recent weeks, Musk dramatically lowered his taxpayer savings estimates from DOGE's government cuts, disagreed publicly with Trump's aggressive tariff policies and butted heads with multiple Trump officials, some publicly, revealing divisions within the White House over Musk's influence.
    Joey Garrison, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2025
  • After Leandro Trossard’s red card, the approach became even more aggressive — City’s entire team was essentially camped inside or on the edge of Arsenal’s box.
    Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the latest missile, but a spokesman for the militant group has said previous launches targeted military facilities in Israel.
    Tamar Michaelis, CNN Money, 4 May 2025
  • India may also take the stronger step of striking militant groups in Pakistan to satisfy the public’s demand for action.
    Michael Kugelman, Time, 3 May 2025
Adjective
  • Merz may have taken to heart a truculent speech Vance had given days earlier at the Munich Security Conference.
    Shane Harris, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2025
  • Giorgia’s leadership is threatened by increasingly truculent government allies, so Arianna is overseeing the backroom process of reverting their post-Fascist party to its more tribal roots.
    Mattia Ferraresi, airmail.news, 5 Oct. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Trigger-happy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trigger-happy. Accessed 11 May. 2025.

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