as in belligerent
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Recent Examples of trigger-happy
The trigger-happy tradition to shoot guns in the air at midnight on New Years Eve has gone on for decades.
—
Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press, 27 Dec. 2024
With concern solidifying around Mexico’s role as a pipeline for Chinese products, the president-elect may have another reason to adopt a trigger-happy stance on duties—and a review of USMCA.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
The screenplay even pays tribute to the island’s anti-fascist heritage with an elderly, trigger-happy partisan shooting from her balcony and singing Communist songs with the Mayor.
—Alissa Simon, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024
Dancing next to the procession of kids and the trigger-happy xylophone infant.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 22 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for trigger-happy
Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press, 27 Dec. 2024
With concern solidifying around Mexico’s role as a pipeline for Chinese products, the president-elect may have another reason to adopt a trigger-happy stance on duties—and a review of USMCA.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
The screenplay even pays tribute to the island’s anti-fascist heritage with an elderly, trigger-happy partisan shooting from her balcony and singing Communist songs with the Mayor.
—Alissa Simon, Variety, 16 Aug. 2024
Dancing next to the procession of kids and the trigger-happy xylophone infant.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 22 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for trigger-happy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trigger-happy
Adjective
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Image In pursuit of the presidency, Mr. Simion has muted the belligerent, often xenophobic message that dominated his early career as a public figure, which began with involvement in groups of nationalist soccer fans known as ultras.—
Andrew Higgins,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
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Markets fall on Trump's trade comments U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after Trump gave belligerent comments on trade deals.—
Yeo Boon Ping,
CNBC,
7 May 2025
Adjective
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As the documentary captures, Billy Joel arrived as a romantic pop star who was also a pugnacious fighter.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
6 June 2025
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Beyond Schenn’s goal scoring touch and physical, pugnacious style of play; Schenn would potentially offer some sneaky value to a Canadian franchise acquiring him this summer.—
Harman Dayal,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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Room for Disagreement There is a case that a less bellicose, less in-your-face flavour of DOGE could work better — and that such changes are easier when they’re not associated with a controversial figure.—
Jim Waterson,
semafor.com,
6 June 2025
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In 2014, war broke out in the Donbas where my family lived, and Putin’s messaging around Victory Day became much more bellicose, making my family reject the holiday ever since.—
Sasha Vasilyuk,
Time,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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Trump’s combative and adversarial style, far from indicating thick skin, may signal the opposite: a compulsive need to dominate the narrative to avoid feeling diminished.—
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
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Caputo was combative throughout the night, beginning before her DUI arrest, according to an internal affairs report released by the Sheriff’s Office on Friday.—
Shira Moolten,
Sun Sentinel,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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The bottom line: Bipartisanship is the most obvious casualty of Schumer's new warlike posture toward the GOP.—
Hans Nichols,
Axios,
21 Mar. 2025
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Freyja, however, is a more warlike goddess, and even has a part in selecting warriors for her hall in the afterlife.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Addressing the Obvious Critiques Yes, 3–4% real growth is aggressive.—
Don Muir,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
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After the aggressive animal showed no signs of leaving, the woman’s boyfriend fatally shot it, officials said.—
Paloma Chavez,
Sacbee.com,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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The aid group accused Hamas of carrying out the assault; the militant group has not yet responded to the allegations.—
Jade Walker,
CNN Money,
12 June 2025
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Some activists have been criticized for spreading messages seen as antisemitic or outright supportive of militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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Merz may have taken to heart a truculent speech Vance had given days earlier at the Munich Security Conference.—
Shane Harris,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2025
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Giorgia’s leadership is threatened by increasingly truculent government allies, so Arianna is overseeing the backroom process of reverting their post-Fascist party to its more tribal roots.—
Mattia Ferraresi,
airmail.news,
5 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Trigger-happy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trigger-happy. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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