white-hot
Americanadjective
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extremely hot.
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showing white heat.
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exceedingly enthusiastic, ardent, angry, devoted, etc.; impassioned; perfervid.
a fierce, white-hot loyalty to the king.
adjective
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at such a high temperature that white light is emitted
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informal in a state of intense emotion
Etymology
Origin of white-hot
First recorded in 1810–20
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Witches, demons and Satanism — anything occult — is white-hot lately.
From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026
Minneapolis is no stranger to tragedy, or to the white-hot spotlight of international media attention, or to banding together in the face of a crisis.
From Slate • Feb. 11, 2026
Unlike the World Cup circuit, which draws on-site crowds but a tiny global audience, the Games create a white-hot spotlight pointed directly at her.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
Eli Lilly stock, which sells the white-hot obesity blockbuster Zepbound, closed at $1,059.70, up 1.6% for the day.
From Barron's • Nov. 21, 2025
Dr. Finch said more to himself than to his niece, “In the 1770s where did the white-hot words come from?”
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
