How to Use short fuse in a Sentence

short fuse

noun
  • That was far from the first example of Long’s short fuse.
    Dan Wiederer, chicagotribune.com, 17 Oct. 2019
  • To be clear, this was a freshman quarterback buried on the depth chart mixing it up with a coach known for a short fuse.
    Michael Casagrande | McAsagrande@al.com, al, 19 Dec. 2019
  • And similar to the source text, the series will equally be driven by the lead’s hot temper and short fuse.
    Ben Croll, Variety, 26 Sep. 2022
  • Both of them known for their short fuses, the two quarreled almost from the beginning.
    Charlotte W. Craig, Detroit Free Press, 2 July 2019
  • So long as there are fans on both sides with long memories and short fuses, the next flashpoint could be as close as the next hard foul.
    Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, 28 Dec. 2019
  • The recent wave of criticism has made Mr. Pompeo, known for a short fuse, even more testy in public.
    David E. Sanger, New York Times, 4 Nov. 2019
  • The Giants already have a short fuse with the immature Beckham.
    Peter King, SI.com, 1 Apr. 2018
  • And then, of course, the short fuse aspect is just my personality.
    Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 15 June 2018
  • Prone to throwing punches over talking things through, Billy has a short fuse — but that's because he's lived a rough life.
    Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2021
  • His wife is a spoiled millennial with a short fuse and unpredictable moods.
    Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 1 Feb. 2020
  • That makes a lot of sense, said Ms. Maliar, the criminologist, who said the war and economic hardship had put a lot of people on a short fuse.
    Iuliia Mendel, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2017
  • In the Amazon Prime film, the British actress plays a woman with a short fuse who has to shock herself to deter her homicidal impulses.
    Hanna Flanagan, PEOPLE.com, 19 July 2021
  • At candidate forums in the early stages of the runoff, Vallas, who has a short fuse, tried to come across as calm and reassuring, even chummy.
    Peter Slevin, The New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2023
  • Both Navarro and Arnold testified that Kelly had a short fuse with employees.
    Sonia Moghe, CNN, 29 Aug. 2021
  • Everyone is on a short fuse, and David’s efforts to prep Cristofer and Clarence for their interviews the next day result in the sort of clashes that send people bolting into the snowy night to cool down.
    Ben Brantley, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2018
  • Her way might be trying to micromanage everything, and your way might be to have a short fuse with her micromanaging.
    cleveland, 28 Sep. 2019
  • Everyone should be wary of making too much of any one loss but the new regime at FC Cincinnati will need to get comfortable with a collectively short fuse within the fan base.
    Pat Brennan, The Enquirer, 28 Feb. 2022
  • Cassidy had a short fuse at times and a longtime grudge against his workplace, but the exact motive for the shooting was under investigation.
    Stefanie Dazio, Star Tribune, 2 June 2021
  • The decision was the result of the short fuse lit by 19 conservative states that filed an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court earlier Monday.
    John Fritze, USA TODAY, 19 Dec. 2022
  • That seems noteworthy even if our national political climate is the leading culprit for why many folks seem to have a short fuse.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2022
  • Lisbeth will show up with just a few scratches, however — her photographic memory intact and her short fuse ready to blow.
    Richard Lipez, Washington Post, 23 Aug. 2019
  • The British actress, 47, plays a woman with a short fuse who has to shock herself to deter her homicidal impulses in the action comedy Jolt, which premieres next month on Amazon Prime.
    Glenn Garner, PEOPLE.com, 29 June 2021
  • Strategic warning can be something that is relatively short fuse, like will the North Koreans invade South Korea in 1950?
    CBS News, 13 Oct. 2021
  • Acquaintances said 57-year-old Samuel Cassidy had a short fuse at times and a longtime grudge against his work, but the exact motive for the shooting remained under investigation.
    Fox News, 2 June 2021
  • Maybe Beth has a real moment of reckoning for having such a short fuse and being such a liability just about everywhere.
    Evan Romano, Men's Health, 21 Nov. 2022
  • Inflation expectations were backward-looking, but with a very short fuse.
    How To Save A Country, The New Republic, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Coming off a night of no sleep after accidentally getting the boat’s propeller tangled with a buoy line, Anderson calls Keith with a short fuse.
    Tyler McCarthy, Fox News, 24 Apr. 2018
  • But something about entering his first cave lit a short fuse that exploded into an entirely new way to appreciate live music.
    Clint Carter, Rolling Stone, 25 Feb. 2021
  • Numerous former employees characterized him as a talented strategist with a long-term vision and a short fuse.
    Caitlin Harrington, WIRED, 1 Dec. 2022
  • Stabler is actually married — his wife, Kathy, a beleaguered but supportive high-school sweetheart — and comes to his job with old-school morals and white-knight moralism: defender of the weak with a notoriously short fuse.
    Carmen Maria MacHado, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'short fuse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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