in the hot seat

1. In an uncomfortable or embarrassing situation, usually by being subjected to severe criticism: “When the settlement talks broke down, he was in the hot seat with both management and labor.” The phrase is an extension of “hot seat,” slang for the electric chair.

Idioms and Phrases

see hot seat.

Example Sentences

OpenAI’s new short-form video app is putting Meta Platforms Inc. in the hot seat.

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Greater Manchester's mayor Andy Burnham was at BBC Radio Manchester's studios in Salford Quays, preparing to take part in his regular In The Hot Seat interview, when initial reports filtered in.

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In May, Lineker held back tears as he signed off from his final edition of Match of the Day after 26 years in the hot seat and officially left the BBC.

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This same feeling of helplessness in the hot seat, these same tactics of dehumanization, these same devices of domination, have only been heightened and finetuned by Florida and federal authorities to foment maximum torment for the latest scapegoats: Documented and undocumented immigrants, Black males deemed militant, suspected Venezuelan gang-members, whoever might be branded as a terrorist and/or investigative journalists who refuse to give up their sources.

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Chris Brown’s latest tour has landed him in the hot seat over trademark issues.

Read more on Los Angeles Times