hot mess

noun

Slang.

1. a person or thing that is a mess, as in being disorganized, confused, or untidy, yet remains attractive or appealing.

   He’s a hot mess when he wakes up in the morning!

Word History and Origins

Origin of hot mess¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Jude Law and Jason Bateman co-star in Netflix’s New York-set crime thriller, with Law as the owner of a hot restaurant and Bateman as his hot mess of a brother.

From Los Angeles Times

The panel said Monguia also made improper remarks to prospective jurors including one woman whom he referred to as a “hot mess” after she disclosed her son’s criminal history during jury selection in September 2022.

From Los Angeles Times

Alix Earle, also previously revealed as a competitor, comes in from the world of social media celebrity and hosts the podcast “Hot Mess With Alix Earle.”

From Los Angeles Times

“This is what unmanaged retreat looks like, and it is quite frankly a hot mess of septic systems, old house parts and armoring that have fallen into the intertidal zone with no real mechanism for cleaning it up,” Sonoma County supervisor Lynda Hopkins declared.

From Los Angeles Times

Ergo, Felix is a flaming hot mess — which is fitting, seeing as, shortly after he drops Jessica at home, she accidentally sets herself on fire.

From Salon

When To Use

What does hot mess mean?

Hot mess is used to describe a particularly disorganized person or chaotic situation. In some uses, a person described as a hot mess is attractive but just barely keeping it together.