hair-trigger

adjective

Definition of hair-triggernext
as in hypersensitive

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 hair-trigger Byrne’s performance has a hair-trigger impulsiveness to match. — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2025 Microsoft has refined every aspect of this controller and added some great new additions like adjustable-tension thumbsticks, even shorter hair-trigger locks, USB-C, and Bluetooth connectivity. — Quentyn Kennemer, The Verge, 19 Dec. 2024 The building is infamously stubborn, with decades-old antibodies on hair-trigger alert for anything too radical. — Colin Demarest, Axios, 20 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hair-trigger
  1. hypersensitive
  2. supersensitive
  3. oversensitive
  4. precise
Adjective
  • Such shielding is crucial because the telescope's hypersensitive instruments will need to be cooled to prevent spurious noise from overwhelming weak signals from distant worlds.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 10 Mar. 2014
  • Jenni’s generation is an easy target — like her hypersensitive bestie Heather (Keyla Monterroso Mejia), who’s to blame for not confirming the reservation — though the film strikes just the right tone in tripping their triggers.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 29 Jan. 2025
Definition of hypersensitive
Adjective
  • Whitney Fields, 38, from Austin, was fed up with contacts scratching her supersensitive eyes.
    — Julia Ries, SELF, 9 Sep. 2024
  • The problem is that investors are supersensitive to the Fed’s views.
    — James Mackintosh, WSJ, 22 June 2021
Definition of supersensitive
Adjective
  • The 8th and 9th are full of good energy, but everyone seems to be feeling oversensitive near the 13th.
    — Katharine Merlin, Town & Country, 1 Sep. 2023
  • These young ideas rarely do — and the invaluable lesson that students glean from that realization will be lost forever if administrators cut them off at the knees by continuing to appease oversensitive cry-bullies whose antics threaten these vital sandboxes.
    — Brian Anderson, National Review, 12 Sep. 2020
Definition of oversensitive
Adjective
  • Inference models now have the capability to process at much greater scale, leading to more precise actions and greater volume, which in turn leads to higher-value use cases.
    — Jason Andersen, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
  • At her best, Gaga has all the wit, humor, and precise emotional control of the great jazz vocalists.
    — Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2025
Definition of precise

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Cite this Entry

“Hair-trigger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hair-trigger. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025.

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