Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Prone to acting with sudden, impulsive energy or anger; easily and quickly provoked to strong emotion or action: Describes a person or their behavior as being characterized by rashness, impatience, and a lack of careful consideration.
   • Quick-tempered; irascible: Specifically refers to a tendency to become angry very rapidly.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • The hotheaded driver honked his horn and yelled at the car in front of him. (This shows a quick, angry reaction.)
  • Making a hotheaded decision without consulting the team led to significant problems. (This illustrates impulsive action without deliberation.)
  • He is too hotheaded to negotiate calmly; he always loses his temper. (This describes a character trait of being easily angered.)

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The term often implies a criticism of someone's lack of self-control or foresight. It suggests that actions are driven by immediate emotion rather than reason.
• It can describe both a temporary state (a hotheaded reaction) and a permanent character trait (a hotheaded person).
• "In a hotheaded manner": Acting with impulsive anger or rashness.
  • He resigned in a hotheaded manner after the argument.

Variants and Related Words

• Hothead (noun): A person who is hotheaded.
  • He was known as a hothead who couldn't control his temper.
• Hotheadedness (noun): The quality of being hotheaded.
  • His hotheadedness was his greatest weakness.

Synonyms

• Impulsive: Acting or done without forethought.
• Rash: Acting or done without careful consideration of the possible consequences; impetuous.
• Impetuous: Acting or done quickly and without thought or care.
• Quick-tempered: Easily angered.
• Irascible: Having or showing a tendency to be easily angered.

Antonyms

• Calm: Not showing or feeling nervousness, anger, or other strong emotions.
• Deliberate: Done consciously and intentionally; careful and slow in acting or deciding.
• Level-headed: Sensible and balanced, especially in a crisis.

Idioms and Common Phrases

• While "hotheaded" itself is not typically part of a larger idiom, its meaning is central to expressions about losing one's temper or acting rashly, such as "flying off the handle" or "acting in the heat of the moment."

Adjective

1. characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation; (`brainish' is archaic)
   • a hotheaded decision
   • liable to such impulsive acts as hugging strangers
   • an impetuous display of spending and gambling
   • madcap escapades
2. quickly aroused to anger
   • a hotheaded commander