TRIGGER-HAPPY Synonyms: 118 Similar and Opposite Words

trigger-happy

adjective

Definition of trigger-happy

as in belligerent

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 Torched by the Warriors from 3-point range last Sunday, Denver limited the trigger-happy Celtics to a 12-for-43 clip downtown. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 26 Feb. 2026 We should be asked how our youth retain the impulse to be free when trigger-happy Israeli soldiers and snipers are ordered to kill unarmed children demanding their human rights. — Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026 The fifth pick in the 2025 draft has shown flashes as a scorer and pull-up shooter and has surprised many with his ability to make quick-decision passes, something that wasn’t exactly a feature of his game in his one trigger-happy season at Rutgers. — John Hollinger, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026 The Iranian government has long maintained a rather trigger-happy approach to censorship, to put it mildly. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 28 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for trigger-happy

Recent Examples of Synonyms for trigger-happy

Adjective

However, his team describes Fred as a tyrant, who is uncaring and belligerent and micro-manages everything.

— Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
Per the title, Aang is the last surviving airbender after his pacifist brethren were slaughtered by a belligerent, expansionist Fire Nation.

— Alison Herman, Variety, 24 July 2026

Definition of belligerent

Adjective

Though less overtly pugnacious than the other main far-right cabinet member, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, with whom he is often compared, Smotrich has used his time in office to ramp up settlement building.

— Reuters, NBC news, 7 Aug. 2026
Indeed, his rising profile as a pugnacious public commentator has arguably exceeded his influence on Wall Street.

— Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 20 July 2026

Definition of pugnacious

Adjective

At least, that’s what the bellicose rhetoric from Tehran suggests.

— Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
At National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, a controversial but popular Russian studies program introduced last fall has nothing to do with the glories of imperial Russia and everything to do with the thinking and motivations of the bellicose power next door.

— Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, 27 June 2026

Definition of bellicose

Adjective

Her combative and energetic style made her one of the administration's most recognizable public faces.

— Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
The race has already inflamed tensions within the Democratic Party over how to energize liberal voters eager for unapologetic, combative candidates while not alienating independents and moderates who have been key to winning in battlegrounds.

— Matt Brown, Fortune, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of combative

Adjective

Macron says fires are warlike crisis for France Out-of-control wildfires represent France’s greatest crisis since World War II, President Emmanuel Macron said.

— Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 29 July 2026
The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026

Definition of warlike

Adjective

Raman said the city has lost tens of thousands of film jobs under Bass and said Los Angeles needs a more aggressive film tax credit to compete with other states.

— Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 20 Aug. 2026
Philadelphia came out aggressive in the second half, took control of the game, and tied it in the 58th minute on a close-range header from Neil Pierre on a cross from Milan Iloski after a free kick.

— Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of aggressive

Adjective

That 2023 event saw Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups kill 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals and abduct 251 people.

— Matt Donnelly, Variety, 22 Aug. 2026
In early September, 1972, a Palestinian militant group called Black September infiltrated the Olympic Games in Munich and killed eleven Israeli athletes.

— Rozina Ali, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of militant

Adjective

Gradually, though, dubby hand percussion rises up from the deep, and soon a truculent, alien-sounding riff and loping dancehall cadence spin the compass point back toward Batu’s Bristol.

— Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 6 July 2026
Darren McCarty, a truculent member of the Red Wings who had multiple fights with Lemieux, posted a broken heart emoji on social media and heard the news from Draper.

— Stephen Whyno, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2026

Definition of truculent

Browse Nearby Words

triggered

trigger-happy

triggering

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Trigger-happy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trigger-happy. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of trigger-happy

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

tilde

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes