hot potato

American  

noun

1. Informal. a situation or issue that is difficult, unpleasant, or risky to deal with.

2. British Informal. a baked potato.

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hot potato British  

noun

1. slang an awkward or delicate matter

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hot potato Idioms  

1. A problem so controversial and sensitive that it is risky to deal with. For example, Gun control is a political hot potato. This term, dating from the mid-1800s, alludes to the only slightly older expression drop like a hot potato, meaning “to abandon something or someone quickly” (lest one be burned). The idiom alludes to the fact that cooked potatoes retain considerable heat because they contain a lot of water.

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Etymology

Origin of hot potato

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hot potato

“I don’t know if he felt it was a hot potato or what.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

She compared the work to a game of hot potato.

From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2026

Now she is being entrusted with a true political hot potato.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2023

Moreover, it would eliminate the game of political hot potato and put in place a single identifiable commissioner who would be responsible and accountable for the state of the sidewalks.

From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2023

I wasn’t going to tell her about that “Getting to Know You” paper dropped onto Mrs. Willibey’s desk like a hot potato or about Howard being my Backpack Buddy, so I just said, “Nothing.”

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

Related Words

• crisis
• emergency
• exposure
• insecurity
• instability
• jeopardy
• menace
• peril
• pitfall
• possibility
• probability
• risk
• threat
• uncertainty
• vulnerability