What does "hair-trigger" mean?

A trigger that will set off a firearm when even a very small pressure is applied.

What is a synonym for "hair-trigger"?

Common synonyms include: agile, breakneck, dashing, delicate, double quick, expeditious.

Pronounced //ˈhɛɹˌtɹɪ.ɡɚ//.

//ˈhɛɹˌtɹɪ.ɡɚ// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A trigger that will set off a firearm when even a very small pressure is applied.
"[…]the hunter brings the sight of his rifle to bear; lightly and delicately his finger presses upon the hair-trigger."

Adjective

1
Unstable; in a situation that could be worsened by the slightest mistake. not-comparable
2
Easily angered; having a short temper. not-comparable
""Gus," the latter began, "am I right in assuming that you possess a reasonable amount of influence with that hair-trigger partner of yours, Live Wire Luiz?""

"His id is a minefield of hair-trigger rage, and his ego is snowflake-fragile."

From hair + trigger.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.