short fuse
noun
: a tendency to get angry easily : a quick temper
… was seen as the bad guy, the one whose short fuse was scary, destructive and uncontrollable.
Rick Telander
Rick Telander short-fused
ˈshȯrt-ˌfyüzd 
adjective … a fiery and short-fused 30-year-old driver as well known for tantrums and bad behavior as he is for being the best rookie in history … The New York Times
The New York Times 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The psychic load of a global pandemic, social and political upheaval, economic instability and vague rumblings of a world war have created a situation where even the most placid among us can have a short fuse. Kate Murphy, WSJ, 29 May 2022 Everyone should be wary of making too much of any one loss but the new regime at FC Cincinnati will need to get comfortable with a collectively short fuse within the fan base. Pat Brennan, The Enquirer, 28 Feb. 2022 That seems noteworthy even if our national political climate is the leading culprit for why many folks seem to have a short fuse. San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2022 Longtime Twins executive George Brophy, the Millers general manager in 1959, always had the explanation for Mauch's short fuse on that 4th. Star Tribune, 3 July 2021 Strategic warning can be something that is relatively short fuse, like will the North Koreans invade South Korea in 1950? CBS News, 13 Oct. 2021 Both Navarro and Arnold testified that Kelly had a short fuse with employees. Sonia Moghe, CNN, 29 Aug. 2021 The unexpectedly quick explosion, caused by a short fuse, pushed him backward, knocking him momentarily unconscious. Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2021 In the Amazon Prime film, the British actress plays a woman with a short fuse who has to shock herself to deter her homicidal impulses. Hanna Flanagan, PEOPLE.com, 19 July 2021 See More
Kate Murphy, WSJ, 29 May 2022 Everyone should be wary of making too much of any one loss but the new regime at FC Cincinnati will need to get comfortable with a collectively short fuse within the fan base. Pat Brennan, The Enquirer, 28 Feb. 2022 That seems noteworthy even if our national political climate is the leading culprit for why many folks seem to have a short fuse. San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2022 Longtime Twins executive George Brophy, the Millers general manager in 1959, always had the explanation for Mauch's short fuse on that 4th. Star Tribune, 3 July 2021 Strategic warning can be something that is relatively short fuse, like will the North Koreans invade South Korea in 1950? CBS News, 13 Oct. 2021 Both Navarro and Arnold testified that Kelly had a short fuse with employees. Sonia Moghe, CNN, 29 Aug. 2021 The unexpectedly quick explosion, caused by a short fuse, pushed him backward, knocking him momentarily unconscious. Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2021 In the Amazon Prime film, the British actress plays a woman with a short fuse who has to shock herself to deter her homicidal impulses. Hanna Flanagan, PEOPLE.com, 19 July 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1958, in the meaning defined above