hot-button

[ hot-buht-n ]

adjective

1. exciting strong feelings; highly charged; emotional:

   hot-button issues.

hot button

noun

1. informal.
   1. a controversial subject or issue that is likely to arouse strong emotions
   2. ( as modifier )

      the hot-button issue of abortion

Word History and Origins

Origin of hot-button¹

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

Gay marriage was the hot-button fight on the left and right.

From The Daily Beast

In a hot-button cover story interview with Vanity Fair, Lawrence explained it best.

From The Daily Beast

However, the ongoing bloody conflict between Israel and Palestine is apparently still too scorching a hot-button issue to touch.

From The Daily Beast

Although any hot-button issue can lay bare the way fear fuels money in politics, the gun issue does it best.

From The Daily Beast

There are in fact hot-button issues, red lines of a sort, which will determine whether an eventual deal is palatable.

From The Daily Beast