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
His mother doesn't acknowledge that Ruben is a loose cannon loaded with vast quantities of gunpowder.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
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
No loose cannon, Hoover was actually the consummate cautious bureaucrat, the keeper of the files — really more of an uptight, puritanical librarian.
From Washington Post • Nov. 9, 2022
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
