hothouse

[ hot-hous ]

noun

, plural hot·hous·es [hot, -hou-ziz].

1. an artificially heated greenhouse for the cultivation of tender plants.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or noting a plant grown in a hothouse, or so fragile as to be capable of being grown only in a hothouse.
2. overprotected, artificial, or unnaturally delicate.

hothouse

/ ˈhɒtˌhaʊs /

noun

1. 1. a greenhouse in which the temperature is maintained at a fixed level above that of the surroundings
   2. ( as modifier )

      a hothouse plant

2. 1. an environment that encourages rapid development
   2. ( as modifier )

      a hot-house atmosphere

3. an environment where there is great pressure

   showjumping is a tough, hothouse world

4. informal.
   modifier sensitive or delicate

   a hothouse temperament

Word History and Origins

Origin of hothouse¹

First recorded in 1505–15; hot + house

Example Sentences

It’s at a level not seen since millions of years ago when the Earth was a hothouse ocean-inundated planet, as the Associated Press put it.

From Voice of San Diego

Meanwhile, our CO2 level is between the Pliocene and the Miocene of 10 million years ago, and we risk an Eocene hothouse not seen in 40 million years.

From Ars Technica

I was thrust into an intellectual hothouse of blackboard discussions, and seminars that would always go way over the allotted time that helped me momentarily forget why I was there.

From Nautilus

He added that those stars from Hollywood's Golden Age would not have "survived" in the hothouse-fame environment of today.

From The Daily Beast

If Saudi Arabia is a hothouse flower, then Americans have helped build the greenhouse.

From The Daily Beast

Hothouse by Boris Kachka A romp through the history of venerable publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

From The Daily Beast

Outside the hothouse of that environment, he is making sense—though his is a message that many conservatives may not want to hear.

From The Daily Beast

And Mitt, obviously rattled by the Gingrich “surge,” seemed like a delicate hothouse flower.

From The Daily Beast

Honorine has her little house, a garden, and a splendid hothouse, for a rent of five hundred francs a year.

From Project Gutenberg

"He is a very precious hothouse flower," said Dennis sarcastically.

From Project Gutenberg

He is engaged in growing and wholesale shipping of hothouse and garden vegetables.

From Project Gutenberg

Of course these were not fragrant like hothouse violets, but they had quite as beautiful a color.

From Project Gutenberg

She slept a great deal, and was fed constantly and her crystal palace was like a little hothouse.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• back yard
• bed
• field
• greenhouse
• nursery
• patio
• terrace