HOT BUTTON Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

hot-button 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of hot-button

as in contentious

relating to or causing the expression of opposing opinions the new plan raises a number of hot-button issues that are sure to get voters riled up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hot button

2 of 2

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hot-button

Adjective

Here are some hot-button topics heading into the Motown showdown. — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026 The Texas Education Freedom Account program is arguably the biggest hot-button topic of the 2026-2027 school year. — Lacey Beasley, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026

Noun

Instead, the panelists raised a familiar array of hot button issues — gas prices, wildfires, home insurance, homelessness, health care, housing shortages and education lapses — and asked for reactions. — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 2 May 2026 In Florida, the construction of data centers has become a hot button issue, with state lawmakers passing a bill adding guardrails intended to protect residents from increases to their electric bills and risks to water supply. — Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hot-button

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hot-button

Adjective

Several cities across the nation are locked in a contentious debate over Flock cameras, but in Erlanger, that decision has been made.

— Brooklyn Andres, Fox 19 Cincinnati, 28 Aug. 2026
The latest version of the polling place plan follows a contentious August meeting about a proposal to reduce the number of Election Day voting locations for the November midterm from 316 in 2022 to 176 in 2026.

— Maven Navarro, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of contentious

Noun

The idea of restricting defenses against nuclear attack has long been a third rail in American politics, especially among Republicans.

— Jeffrey Lewis, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2026
The guild pulling its sponsorship of Urbanworld reflects how AI remains a third rail within the creative community, even as everyone from directors to actors to director-actor-executive hybrids embrace it in different ways.

— Corbin Bolies, Variety, 30 July 2026

Definition of third rail

Adjective

Decades later, buses helped desegregate schools, hauling Black and white children across the country’s racial divide, a controversial practice that has mostly ended.

— Jeff McMurray, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Based on true events, Jacob Tremblay plays the 16-year-old Harvard prodigy who is subjected to controversial psychological experiments by Professor Henry Murray (Russell Crowe) and his eventual transformation into the Unabomber.

— Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of controversial

Browse Nearby Words

hot-bloodedness

hot-button

hot button

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Cite this Entry

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“Hot-button.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hot-button. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of hot-button

adjective

noun

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