loose cannon
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An uncontrolled or unpredictable person.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
looskanuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈluskænən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
idiomaticby extension
An uncontrolled or unpredictable person, especially considered liable to cause unintentional or indiscriminate damage.
nautical
A cannon that breaks loose from its moorings on a ship during battle or storm, with the potential to cause serious damage to the ship and her crew.
verb
idiomaticintransitive
To behave in a way such as to cause unintentional or indiscriminate damage.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An uncontrolled or unpredictable person, especially considered liable to cause unintentional or indiscriminate damage.
Used this way, loose cannon is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.