hotshot

noun

hot·​shot ˈhät-ˌshät 

plural hotshots

1

: a talented or successful person who often has a showy or flashy manner

There are, of course, people here who believe that most Washington hotshots, journalistic as well as governmental, are fatly overpaid already …

—Meg Greenfield

… some young hotshots are leaving mutual funds … to set up hedge funds at a rate of more than one a day.

—Mitchell Pacelle

—often used before another noun

a hotshot actor

These days, the only teasing that Leinart gets is from friends who tell him that he doesn't take advantage of being a hotshot college quarterback.

—Phil Taylor

2

: a person trained to fight forest fires especially in remote areas

As a hotshot, his job was to rappel from helicopters into wildfires across the country.

—Anton L. Delgado and Dustin Patar

—often used before another noun

[Firefighter Zachary] Resnick said his hotshot crew used to get a break fighting wildfires from late November to late spring. Now, they're on duty nearly year-round.

—Lilia Luciano

3

: a fast freight train

First is a hotshot, LADAF, an automobile and trailer train from Los Angeles to Dallas ("F" stands for Forwarder). Its route through Texas is roundabout, so LADAF has to really move, and move it does …

—Fred W. Frailey

Synonyms

• ace
• adept
• artist
• authority
• cognoscente
• connoisseur
• crackerjack
• crackajack
• dab [chiefly British]
• dab hand [chiefly British]
• expert
• fiend
• geek
• guru
• hand
• maestro
• master
• maven
• mavin
• meister
• past master
• proficient
• scholar
• shark
• sharp
• virtuoso
• whiz
• wizard

Examples of hotshot in a Sentence

The company has hired a couple of young hotshots to revamp its advertising campaign.

That guy thinks he's a real hotshot.

Recent Examples on the Web

In New York City, those hotshots include Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, James von Klemperer of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and SHoP Architects, many of whom have created towers for the city’s now notorious Billionaire’s Row on 57th Street in Manhattan. —Elizabeth Fazzare, Architectural Digest, 5 Nov. 2024

Luca Guadagnino is presiding over the competition jury, which includes hotshot actors Jacob Elordi and Andrew Garfield. —Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 21 Nov. 2024

Clark, 22, is the hotshot rookie, the future of the WNBA. —Doug Haller, The Athletic, 30 June 2024

Does your dad identify with the hotshot rookie, River, or the senior spy, Jackson Lamb (Oldman)? —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

hotshot

noun

hot·​shot ˈhät-ˌshät 

: a showily skillful person