Hornet

//ˈhɔɹ.nɪt// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any large wasp of the genus Vespa, having a brown-and-yellow-striped body and the ability to inflict a serious sting.
  2. 2
    someone connected with Watford Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
  3. 3
    large stinging paper wasp wordnet
  4. 4
    A person who pesters with petty but ceaseless attacks.

Synonyms

All synonyms
beedroneinsectqueenworkeryellow jacket

Example

More examples

"Tom was killed by a giant hornet."

Etymology

From Middle English hernet, from Old English hyrnetu, hyrnete, from Proto-West Germanic *hurnutu, from Proto-Germanic *hurznutō (compare German Hornisse), alteration of Proto-Germanic *hursulǭ (compare Dutch horzel), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂sro- (“hornet”, literally “the one with horns (antennae)”), from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) (compare Welsh creyryn (“gadfly”), Latin crābrō (“hornet”), Lithuanian širšė (“wasp”), Proto-Slavic *sьrxy (whence Old Church Slavonic сръшень (srŭšenĭ, “hornet”) and many others), Albanian grerë, grenzë (“wasp, hornet”)).

Related phrases

Asian giant hornetAsian hornetAustralian hornetEuropean hornetJapanese giant hornetJapanese hornetJapanese yellow hornetOriental hornetbald hornetbald-faced hornetblack-bellied hornetblack-tailed hornet

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