loose cannon

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.

I can’t imagine being more of a loose cannon, or how you would navigate it without that grounding.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

They might be rock-solid characters, or a loose cannon.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025

Nixon and Kissinger saw him as a loose cannon, and they wondered whether he was divulging these secrets, possibly to foreign agents.

From Slate • Jun. 16, 2023

Those are the rules, and vice presidents who break them are blasted for going off-script or being a loose cannon.

From Washington Post • Apr. 27, 2023

Increasingly, the higher-ups at the agency came to see William as a loose cannon.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield