hothead

23 6.2

A person who gets angry quickly and acts without thinking

noun
/ˈhɑːtˌhɛd/

Offensive

: persona de mecha corta

Friends tell us that Lehan is a wonderful person and that Ludlow is a hothead.
a bit of a hothead
always a hothead
a notorious hothead

Examples

Joey was always a hothead, but I could rely on him.

Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998)
Yeah, my boy can be a bit of a hothead.

Shooting Stars (2023)
There is no need for that type of hothead in the police force.

Blog text (13)
I mean, granted, the kid's a hothead.

Play Dirty (2025)
And now I think that this young hothead has had enough excitement.

Prince Valiant (1954)
"Just don't be a hothead out there."

Fiction book (1994)
All right, so he's a hothead.

Brick (2006)
He's always been a hothead.

Fantastic Four (2005)
You have something of a reputation as a hothead, but I don't see it.

Fiction book (1995)
If you are a hothead, you might regret your hasty decisions later.

Synonyms

rager

vshothead

1 8.7

A person who becomes very angry and shouts

gets angry easily and acts without thinking rather than showing extreme rage

Antonyms

level-headed

14 4.0

Calm and sensible and good at making decisions in difficult situations

calm personality

2.7

A person who does not get nervous in difficult situations

How Impulsive

reckless

193 3.6

daredevil

26 6.1

hothead

Offensive

23 6.2

hotspur

Archaic

1 9.9

impulsive

78 4.4

rash

3 4.3

Surface Forms

hothead singular

hotheads plural

Morphology

hothead = hot + head (transparent) = hot + head

The meaning 'a person who gets angry easily' is a straightforward figurative combination of 'hot' (easily angered) + 'head' (person/mind), so learners can derive it from the parts.

Etymology

Hothead comes from the simple parts hot and head, imagining someone's head getting 'hot', or 'angry', just like the phrase hot-tempered. So, a hothead is a person who gets angry quickly and often acts without thinking.