hot

Less common meanings

10. 10
    adjective

    Of a person, feeling uncomfortably warm, or having a high body temperature, as with a fever.

    By midafternoon everyone in the office was hot and sluggish.

    He felt uncomfortably hot under the heavy blankets.

    UsageSay I'm hot for how you feel (not incorrect: I have hot); it's hot describes the weather or a thing.

    Similarwarm, overheated, feverish

    Oppositecold, cool, chilly

    Note

    Here the heat is in whoever feels it, a person or an animal, sweating in the sun or bundled in a thick coat. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • People can sweat when hot. medlineplus.gov
    • Animals can also become hot and sweat; horses are one example. extension.umn.edu
    • Heavy clothing can make its wearer excessively warm. tools.niehs.nih.gov
11. 11
    tense (situation)adjective

    Of a situation, uncomfortable, unpleasant, or dangerous, and hard to cope with.

    After his lies came out, things got too hot for him at work, so he quit.

    Reporters made things hot for the embattled mayor.

    UsageFrames: things get too hot for someone; people make things hot for someone.

    Similardangerous, uncomfortable, difficult, unpleasant, tough

    Oppositesafe, comfortable, easy

    Note

    A town, a state or a whole country can turn hot for a person who is wanted there. Meredith Blevins's The Hummingbird Wizard (2003) adds the shrug: “Just a matter of jurisdiction and time.” Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Meredith Blevins wrote The Hummingbird Wizard. meredithblevins.com
    • The quoted words occur in The Hummingbird Wizard. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    adjective

    Charged with intense emotion, fierce competition, or energetic action; heated.

    The fighting grew hot around the bridge as both sides threw in fresh troops.

    Bidding for the painting was hot, with three collectors outbidding each other by thousands.

    UsageOften with grow or get: the fighting grew hot, competition got hot; also in hot pursuit.

    Similarfierce, intense, heated, furious

13. 13
    adjective

    Very close to finding or guessing something that is hidden or sought.

    One more step toward the cupboard and you'll be hot.

    The detective sensed she was hot on the trail at last.

    UsageSet phrases: you're getting hot, hot on the trail, hot on someone's heels.

    Similarwarm, close

    Oppositecold

    Note

    The scale of the hiding game: warm when you are close, hot when you are nearly there, as in “Am I warm yet?” “You're hot!” The same closeness drives hot on someone's tail, where the seeker is a pursuer just behind the quarry. Because the scale is graded, hotter comes naturally as the search narrows. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The hiding game uses a graded temperature scale: warm indicates closeness, hot greater closeness, and hotter further progress toward the hidden object. eslactive.com
14. 14
    wanting someoneadjectiveslangfiguratively

    Sexually aroused or strongly attracted to someone; also, keenly eager for something.

    Half the office seemed hot for the visiting consultant.

    Collectors were hot for the rare first edition the moment it appeared.

    UsageWith for before the person or thing wanted: hot for him, hot for the first edition.

    Similareager, keen

    Note

    In hot for someone or something, the for gives the heat a target. Without it, the word means simply aroused, with no target named.

15. 15
    just outadjective

    Fresh and newly released.

    The report is hot off the wire and not yet confirmed.

    Copies of the novel, hot from the printer, were stacked by the door.

    UsageSet phrases: hot off the press, hot off the wire.

    Similarfresh, new, latest

    Oppositestale, old

16. 16
    bright coloradjective

    Describing a color that is vivid and intense and catches the eye.

    The dancers wore hot pink leotards that glowed under the stage lights.

    Neon tubes cast a hot orange glow over the wet street.

    UsageBefore color words: hot pink, hot orange.

    Similarbright, vivid

    Oppositepale, muted

17. 17
    stolenadjectiveslang

    Stolen, and therefore risky to possess, buy, or resell because it can be traced.

    Fences rarely pay full price for jewelry that's hot.

    Detectives traced the hot laptops back to a warehouse burglary.

    UsageContext matters: hot merchandise in a shop ad sells fast, but in a back alley it is stolen.

    Similarstolen, nicked

    Note

    Slang for goods with a theft behind them: hot merchandise, a hot camera. The risk travels with the object. In Robert Eversz's Burning Garbo (2003), simply buying a hot camera is a parole violation. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Robert Eversz wrote Burning Garbo. simonandschuster.com
    • In Burning Garbo, buying a stolen camera is a parole violation. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    quick to angeradjectivefiguratively

    Easily provoked to anger; quick-tempered.

    His hot temper flared whenever someone questioned him.

    Years of stress left her with a hotter temper than before.

    UsageAttach it to temper: a hot temper, hot-tempered. He's hot would suggest attractive instead.

    Similarfiery, quick, volatile, fierce, explosive

    Oppositeeven, calm, placid, mild

    Note

    The first of the meanings in which heat stands for excited feeling rather than temperature. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The quick-tempered sense is listed first in the group relating to excited emotions; this describes entry order, not historical priority. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    very fastadjectiveslang

    Extremely fast; capable of great speed.

    The leaders kept up a hot pace through the first ten miles of the race.

    In high school, his uncle drove a hot V8 sedan that could leave every other car on the boulevard behind.

    UsageUsed of a pace, lap or machine: a hot pace, a hot lap.

    Similarfast, speedy, quick, rapid

    Oppositeslow, sluggish

    Note

    Pilots' and drivers' slang for approaching something faster than is comfortable: a plane coming in hot, a hot pass, and Marcus Stacker's warning in Halo 3 (2007), “we're going in a little hot!” Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Halo 3 was released in 2007. news.xbox.com
    • Marcus Stacker says “we're going in a little hot!” in Halo 3, as a warning to brace. en.wiktionary.org
20. 20
    with great heatadverb

    At a high temperature; hotly.

    The furnace burned hot as the workers fed it more coal.

    The midday sun blazed hot over the open fields.

    UsageComes after verbs of burning: burn hot, blaze hot. Compare a hot fire and a fire that burns hot.

    Note

    The plain adverb of heat, placed after verbs of burning: oak burns hot and lasts a long time, as Ted Reader puts it in Gastro Grilling (2013). Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Ted Reader wrote Gastro Grilling. penguinrandomhouse.com
    • Gastro Grilling was published in 2013. penguinrandomhouse.com
    • Reader writes that oak burns hot and lasts a long time. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    apply heatverbcolloquialUKIrelandtransitive or intransitive

    To heat something, or to make or become hot.

    Let me hot up the leftover stew for supper.

    The coffee had gone cold, so she hotted it up in the microwave.

    Similarheat, warm

    Oppositecool, chill

22. 22
    verbcolloquialUKIrelandintransitive

    To grow, or make something grow, more lively, tense or exciting.

    Negotiations hot up whenever a deadline approaches.

    The rivalry hots up every time the two teams meet.

    UsageMostly hot up: things hot up, the race is hotting up.

    Similarintensify, escalate

    Oppositecool, subside

    Note

    What rises is tension or pace rather than temperature, which is why it suits rivalries, campaigns and deadlines.

23. 23
    radioactiveadjectivecolloquial

    Radioactive; giving off radiation at levels that demand caution.

    Technicians flagged the contaminated soil as hot and sealed it off.

    Spent fuel rods remain hot for thousands of years after removal.

    Similarradioactive

    Oppositeclean

24. 24
    very shortadjectiveslang

    Used before minute or second for emphasis, usually to stress how short a time is, though a hot minute can also mean quite a long while.

    Give me a hot second to think before you decide.

    The whole errand was over in a hot minute.

    Similarquick

25. 25
    cooked mealnouncountable

    A cooked, warm meal, especially as counted in expressions like 'three hots and a cot.'

    The mission promised every visitor a warm bed and three hots during the cold snap.

    For some recruits, the main draw of the army was a bunk and three hots.

26. 26
    too fastadverb

    At high speed, especially faster than is safe when going into a bend or coming in to land.

    The rookie went into the final corner too hot and slid wide into the gravel.

    The second helicopter came in hotter than the first and landed hard.

    UsageWith too or a comparative: went in too hot, came in hotter than the first.

    Similarhard

    Note

    The phrase it builds is the one behind the pilots' “coming in hot”. Here, though, the word modifies the verb and compares freely: hotter than he could have, hotter than Dash liked. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The example wording “hotter than he could have” is attested in narrative prose. en.wiktionary.org
    • The example wording “hotter than Dash liked” is attested, and the character is named Dash. en.wiktionary.org
27. 27
    police presenceadjectiveslang

    Marked by heavy police presence or activity, and so dangerous for anything illicit.

    The smugglers lay low while the border crossing stayed hot.

    The block went hot the moment patrol cars rolled in.

    UsageBelongs to crime fiction and street talk; elsewhere, say a heavy police presence.

    Note

    Slang that reads a place from the wrong side of the law: an area is hot when police are around, often at a particular hour, as in “This area is hot this time of night.” It belongs to the same family as the “stolen” meaning, where the heat is police attention. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The quoted sentence appears verbatim as a usage example in Wiktionary; it is not attributed to a named speaker or work. en.wiktionary.org
28. 28
    contains drugsadjectiveslang

    Containing illegal drugs, especially of a urine sample that tests positive for them.

    Two of the job applicants came up hot on the drug screen.

    His urine sample came back hot for cocaine, and he was off the team by Friday.

    UsagePatterns: come back hot, hot for + the drug. In formal writing, say tested positive.

    Similardirty

    Oppositeclean

    Note

    Its home is the drug test. Someone who pisses hot for a substance has given a sample that shows it, like the soldier discharged after he pissed hot for cocaine. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The soldier discharged after testing positive for cocaine appears as a Wiktionary usage example, rather than an identified historical person. en.wiktionary.org
29. 29
    bad checkadjectiveslang

    Of a check: drawn on an account without enough funds to cover it.

    Merchants up and down the street got stuck holding his hot checks.

    The bank froze her account after she wrote three hot checks in one week.

    UsageMostly a hot check, the same as a bad check or a rubber check.

    Similarbad, rubber

    Note

    Slang of the check and the draft only: a hot check is one the bank will not honor, the same thing as a rubber check or a bad check. In casual talk it marks the writer as untrustworthy, as in “He gave me a hot check last week.” Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • In this sense, hot is slang describing a check or draft without sufficient funds. en.wiktionary.org
    • A hot check is a check the bank does not honor. fayetteville-ar.gov
    • Rubber check and bad check describe the same kind of unfunded check. en.wiktionary.org
30. 30
    adjective

    Of an audio signal or input, very loud, giving the amplifier or recording gear a strong level.
31. 31
    adverb

    With guns firing, as when troops go into a place shooting.