hotshot

noun

hot·​shot ˈhät-ˌshät 

plural hotshots

1

: a talented or successful person who often has a showy or flashy manner

There are, of course, people here who believe that most Washington hotshots, journalistic as well as governmental, are fatly overpaid already …

—Meg Greenfield

… some young hotshots are leaving mutual funds … to set up hedge funds at a rate of more than one a day.

—Mitchell Pacelle

—often used before another noun

a hotshot actor

These days, the only teasing that Leinart gets is from friends who tell him that he doesn't take advantage of being a hotshot college quarterback.

—Phil Taylor

2

: a person trained to fight forest fires especially in remote areas

As a hotshot, his job was to rappel from helicopters into wildfires across the country.

—Anton L. Delgado and Dustin Patar

—often used before another noun

[Firefighter Zachary] Resnick said his hotshot crew used to get a break fighting wildfires from late November to late spring. Now, they're on duty nearly year-round.

—Lilia Luciano

3

: a fast freight train

First is a hotshot, LADAF, an automobile and trailer train from Los Angeles to Dallas ("F" stands for Forwarder). Its route through Texas is roundabout, so LADAF has to really move, and move it does …

—Fred W. Frailey

Synonyms

• ace
• adept
• artist
• authority
• cognoscente
• connoisseur
• crackerjack
• crackajack
• dab [chiefly British]
• dab hand [chiefly British]
• expert
• fiend
• geek
• guru
• hand
• maestro
• master
• maven
• mavin
• meister
• past master
• proficient
• scholar
• shark
• sharp
• virtuoso
• whiz
• wizard

Examples of hotshot in a Sentence

The company has hired a couple of young hotshots to revamp its advertising campaign.

That guy thinks he's a real hotshot.

Recent Examples on the Web

Gutierrez, a 15-year veteran with the Forest Service on hotshot crews and engines, said thousands of firefighters on probationary status are at risk of termination, as well. —Jacob Soboroff, NBC News, 7 Feb. 2025

Cruise is on charismatic form as the hotshot sports agent forced to start his own management firm when he's fired from his job. —Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024

Since making his debut with a minor role in 1981's Endless Love, the actor and producer has made billions at the box office playing super spies, jet pilots, pre-crime cops, and hotshot sports agents. —Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024

Wildland firefighters in a hotshot crew from near Klamath, Oregon, search the ruins of houses destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, on Jan. 10, 2025. —Laura Doan, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

hotshot

noun

hot·​shot ˈhät-ˌshät 

: a showily skillful person