The 28-year-old clocked 9.88 seconds to finish third on Sunday night – less than an hour after Katarina Johnson-Thompson won heptathlon gold in Budapest.
Hughes becomes the first British man to win an individual 100m sprint medal at the worlds in 20 years – since Darren Campbell’s bronze in 2003.
The USA’s Noah Lyles took the title in 9.83 seconds with Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo winning silver just a thousandth of a second ahead of Hughes.
European 200m champion Hughes went into the race as the fastest man in the world this year and was boosted after defending champion Fred Kerley crashed out in the semi final, along with Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs.
Hughes, ranked 12th in the world ahead of the Championships, had qualified fourth fastest after running 9.93s in his semi.
Yet he had struggled with a slow start in the heat and semi and, despite the fastest reaction time in the final, still needed to recover in the last 50m to ensure he snatched a podium place in a tight race.
It caps a remarkable summer for the Anguilla-born star, who trains under Usain Bolt’s former coach Glen Mills, after he broke two long-standing British records.
In June, he shattered Linford Christie’s 30-year 100m record by running 9.83s in New York.
A month later in London, he broke John Regis’ 200m mark to post 19.73s.
Eugene Amo-Dadzie, an accountant who is due back to work as a senior management accountant for property developer Berkeley Group on August 29, bowed out in the semi-final after running 10.03s – still quicker than Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs.
Reece Prescod ran 10.26s and also failed to qualify, ending his Championships with the 25-year-old pulling out of the 4x100m relay squad last week.
