half-cocked

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

However, Baroness Casey described the plans as "a half-cocked attempt" to deal with the problem.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2023

To Rafael’s bildungsroman amid half-cocked terrorists and a love triangle with their leaders, add a spy-novel parody, a kaleidoscopic Christ narrative, a battery of literary references and a portrait of Cuban life under socialism.

From New York Times • Sep. 2, 2022

If the hammer was quarter or half-cocked, the gun “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger,” per the report cited by ABC News.

From Washington Times • Aug. 13, 2022

Mrs. Ambrose, it continued, “helped put an end to the image of the D.C. Council as a refuge for small-bore politicians given to going off half-cocked on marginal issues.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 4, 2017

Quackenbush took advantage of a break in this line of conversation to announce that he would certainly stay at Devon through the year, however half-cocked others might rush off.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles