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hot

[hot]
See more synonyms for hot on Thesaurus.com
adjective, hot·ter, hot·test.
  1. having or giving off heat; having a high temperature: a hot fire; hot coffee.
  2. having or causing a sensation of great bodily heat; attended with or producing such a sensation: He was hot with fever.
  3. creating a burning sensation, as on the skin or in the throat: This ointment is hot, so apply it sparingly.
  4. sharply peppery or pungent: Is this mustard hot?
  5. having or showing intense or violent feeling; ardent; fervent; vehement; excited: a hot temper.
  6. Informal. having a strong enthusiasm; eager: a hot baseball fan.
  7. Slang.
    1. sexually aroused; lustful.
    2. sexy; attractive.
  8. violent, furious, or intense: the hottest battle of the war.
  9. strong or fresh, as a scent or trail.
  10. absolutely new; fresh: a dozen new mystery stories hot from the press.
  11. requiring immediate delivery or correspondence; demanding priority: The hot freight must be delivered by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, or we'll lose the contract.
  12. Slang. skillful in a reckless or daring way: a hot pilot.
  13. following very closely; close: to be hot on the trail of a thief.
  14. (of colors) extremely intense: hot pink.
  15. Informal. popular and commercially successful; in demand; marketable: The Beatles were a hot group in the 1960s.
  16. Slang. extremely lucky, good, or favorable: A poker player has to have a hot hand to win the pot.
  17. Slang. (in sports and games) playing well or winningly; scoring effectively: a hot pitcher.
  18. Slang. funny; absurd: That's a hot one!
  19. Games. close to the object or answer that is being sought.
  20. Informal. extremely exciting or interesting; sensational or scandalous: a hot news story.
  21. Jazz.
    1. (of music) emotionally intense, propulsive, and marked by aggressive attack and warm, full tone.
    2. (of a musician) skilled in playing hot jazz.
  22. Informal. (of a vehicle) capable of attaining extremely high speeds: a hot new jet plane.
  23. Slang.
    1. stolen recently or otherwise illegal and dangerous to possess: a hot diamond necklace.
    2. wanted by the police.
    3. dangerous.
  24. Informal. in the mood to perform exceedingly well, or rapidly, as during a burst of creative work: Finish writing that story while you're still hot.
  25. actively conducting an electric current or containing a high voltage: a hot wire.
  26. of, relating to, or noting radioactivity.
  27. Metalworking. noting any process involving plastic deformation of a metal at a temperature high enough to permit recrystallization due to the strain: hot working.
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adverb
  1. in a hot manner; hotly.
  2. while hot: Garnish the potatoes with parsley and serve hot.
  3. Metalworking. at a temperature high enough to permit recrystallization: The wire was drawn hot.
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verb (used with or without object), hot·ted, hot·ting.
  1. Chiefly British Informal. to heat; warm (usually followed by up).
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noun
  1. the hots, Slang. intense sexual desire or attraction.
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Idioms
  1. get hot, Slang. (in sports and games) to become very effective or successful; score or win repeatedly or easily.
  2. hot and bothered, Informal. excited, aroused, or flustered: This mistake isn't worth getting hot and bothered about.Also all hot and bothered.
  3. hot and heavy, Informal. in an intense, vehement, or passionate manner: They argued hot and heavy for 20 minutes.
  4. hot under the collar. collar(def 23).
  5. make it hot for, Informal. to make something unpleasant for; cause trouble for: Ever since their argument the principal has been making it hot for the new teacher.
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Origin of hot

before 1000; 1920–25 for def 23; Middle English ho(o)t, Old English hāt; cognate with Dutch heet, Old Norse heitr, Swedish het, Danish hed, German heiss
Related formshot·ly, adverbhot·ness, nouno·ver·hot, adjectiveo·ver·hot·ly, adverbul·tra·hot, adjectiveun·hot, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
1. heated; fiery, burning, scorching; scalding, boiling; torrid, sultry. 4. biting, piquant, sharp, spicy. 5. fervid; fiery, passionate, intense, excitable, impetuous; angry, furious, irate, violent.

Antonyms

1. cold.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

tropicalhumidscorchingblazingsizzlingboilingtorridwarmswelteringheatedwhitesultryredsharpspicyfierceintensestormypopularfresh

Examples from the Web for hot

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "Here's a fine letter to read on a hot day," called Percival.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • Celine stared, resting no slight weight on the hot flat-iron.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • My brother is hot and fiery; Mr Chatterton is rash and headstrong.

  • I think it was the homely smell of hot buttered toast that did it.

    Viviette

    William J. Locke

  • Under the strain of his muscles, iron bars bent like hot wax.

British Dictionary definitions for hot

hot

adjective hotter or hottest
  1. having a relatively high temperature
  2. having a temperature higher than desirable
  3. causing or having a sensation of bodily heat
  4. causing a burning sensation on the tonguehot mustard; a hot curry
  5. expressing or feeling intense emotion, such as embarrassment, anger, or lust
  6. intense or vehementa hot argument
  7. recent; fresh; newa hot trial; hot from the press
  8. ball games (of a ball) thrown or struck hard, and so difficult to respond to
  9. much favoured or approveda hot tip; a hot favourite
  10. informal having a dangerously high level of radioactivitya hot laboratory
  11. slang (of goods or money) stolen, smuggled, or otherwise illegally obtained
  12. slang (of people) being sought by the police
  13. informal sexually attractive
  14. (of a colour) intense; strikinghot pink
  15. close or following closelyhot on the scent
  16. informal at a dangerously high electric potentiala hot terminal
  17. physics having an energy level higher than that of the ground statea hot atom
  18. slang impressive or good of its kind (esp in the phrase not so hot)
  19. jazz slang arousing great excitement or enthusiasm by inspired improvisation, strong rhythms, etc
  20. informal dangerous or unpleasant (esp in the phrase make it hot for someone)
  21. (in various searching or guessing games) very near the answer or object to be found
  22. metallurgy (of a process) at a sufficiently high temperature for metal to be in a soft workable state
  23. Australian and NZ informal (of a price, charge, etc) excessive
  24. give it hot or give it to someone hot to punish or thrash someone
  25. hot on informal
    1. very severethe police are hot on drunk drivers
    2. particularly skilled at or knowledgeable abouthe's hot on vintage cars
  26. hot under the collar informal aroused with anger, annoyance, etc
  27. in hot water informal in trouble, esp with those in authority
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adverb
  1. in a hot manner; hotly
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See also hots, hot up
Derived Formshotly, adverbhotness, noun

Word Origin

Old English hāt; related to Old High German heiz, Old Norse heitr, Gothic heito fever
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hot

adj.

Old English hat "hot, flaming, opposite of cold," also "fervent, fierce, intense, excited," from Proto-Germanic *haita- (cf. Old Saxon and Old Frisian het, Old Norse heitr, Middle Dutch and Dutch heet, German heiß "hot," Gothic heito "heat of a fever"), from PIE root *kai- "heat" (cf. Lithuanian kaistu "to grow hot").

The association of hot with sexuality dates back to c.1500. Taste sense of "pungent, acrid, biting" is from 1540s. Sense of "exciting, remarkable, very good" is 1895; that of "stolen" is first recorded 1925 (originally with overtones of "easily identified and difficult to dispose of"); that of "radioactive" is from 1942.

Hot flashes in the menopausal sense attested from 1887. Hot air "unsubstantiated statements, boastful talk" is from 1900. Hot stuff for anything good or excellent is by 1889. Hot potato in figurative sense is from 1846. The hot and cold in hide-and-seek or guessing games are from hunting (1640s), with notion of tracking a scent.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with hot

hot

In addition to the idioms beginning with hot

  • hot air
  • hot and bothered
  • hot and heavy
  • hot as blazes
  • hot dog
  • hot line
  • hot number
  • hot off the press
  • hot on
  • hot potato
  • hot rod
  • hot seat, in the
  • hot stuff
  • hot to trot
  • hot under the collar
  • hot water

also see:

  • blow hot and cold
  • like a cat on hot bricks
  • like hot cakes
  • make it hot for
  • piping hot
  • strike while the iron's hot
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.