adj

hot

adj

Having or giving off a high temperature.

"Be careful, the stove is still hot."

"It was a hot, humid afternoon in July."

Very attractive or sexually appealing.

"Everyone agreed the new actor was hot."

Extremely popular, in demand, or currently exciting.

"Tickets for the hot new show sold out in minutes."

"That neighborhood has become a hot market for buyers."

Spicy or pungent in taste.

"He added extra chili because he likes his food hot."

Live, active, or ready for use — for example, a hot microphone or a live electrical wire.

"Don't touch that wire, it's hot."

How to Use Hot

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishHaving a high temperature — and by extension, exciting, popular, attractive, spicy, or electrically live, depending on context.

When to use it

The "attractive" and "very good" senses are informal — fine in everyday speech but avoid them in formal writing.

Common pairings

hot weather hot topic hot sauce red hot hot off the press

hotter comparative, hotter comparative, hotted past tense, hots plural, hots singular, hottest superlative, hottest superlative

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Test yourself on “hot” A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage →

Can you complete this real example?

Be careful, the stove is still _____.

From Old English hat, going back to a Germanic root shared with "heat" — one of the oldest and most basic words in the language.

choleric heated

chilled chilly cold as ice cold freezing freezing cold frigid glacial

slow angry cold warm asleep stern frigid enthusiastic

shot upshot gunshot earshot hotshot overshot snapshot buckshot headshot slingshot bloodshot

choleric heated chilled chilly cold as ice cold freezing freezing cold frigid glacial slow angry