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

His record held few clues for how he’d rule in abortion cases or other hot-button issues.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some banks had distanced themselves from hot-button industries during the Biden administration to bolster their environmental, social and corporate-governance credentials or because the regulators at the time viewed them as risky.

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But the purchases became a hot-button issue in recent weeks.

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Hot-button politics, it must be stressed, aren’t foremost here.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Presidential power is the central focus of this year's Supreme Court term but cases involving several hot-button political and cultural controversies are also scheduled in the coming months.

Read more on BBC