hair-trig·ger
ˈher-ˌtri-gər 
1
: immediately responsive to the slightest stimulus
a hair-trigger temper
2
: delicately adjusted or easily disrupted
: a gun trigger so adjusted as to permit the firearm to be fired by a very slight pressure
Examples of hair-trigger in a Sentence
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Colin Demarest, Axios, 20 Nov. 2024
For all its Formula One credentials, for all its flashy virility and hair-trigger handling, the McLaren also sets a new supercar standard for inner peace.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Mar. 2012
Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 6 Nov. 2024
The number of applause breaks throughout the set was staggering, the audience’s threshold apparently set to a hair trigger.
—Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hair-trigger 
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Adjective
The building is infamously stubborn, with decades-old antibodies on hair-trigger alert for anything too radical.
—Colin Demarest, Axios, 20 Nov. 2024
For all its Formula One credentials, for all its flashy virility and hair-trigger handling, the McLaren also sets a new supercar standard for inner peace.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Mar. 2012
Noun
So any surprise is going to set off that hair trigger that he's been trying to cover up instead of working on being slower to anger.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 6 Nov. 2024
The number of applause breaks throughout the set was staggering, the audience’s threshold apparently set to a hair trigger.
—Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hair-trigger
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Cite this Entry
“Hair-trigger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hair-trigger. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.
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