hot mess
noun
plural hot messes
1
informal
: something or someone that is emphatically a mess: such as
a
: something that is disastrously bad or chaotic (as due to mishandling or misconduct)
My life was a hot mess.
His latest outing, to a hot mess of a boutique hotel in New Mexico, is just as full of withering asides and bleeped-out F-bombs.—
TV Guide
TV Guide
b
: a disorganized, disheveled, or self-destructive person
She's a hard-drinking hot mess who scavenges the streets for castoff furniture and clothing that she spruces up and sometimes sells; how she survives in contemporary Los Angeles is one of the movie's biggest mysteries.—Sheri Linden
Sheri Linden
also
: such a person who is at the same time attractive or sexy
However, Everett actually is a hot mess when she performs. Her stage presence is erotic and chaotic, her big blond body wrapped in something low-cut and sheer. —Molly Adams
Molly Adams 2
archaic
a
: a hot dish especially of soft or pulpy food
… there was a stove over which our guides made a hot mess of flour and water which passed for soup.—Edwin Swift Balch
Edwin Swift Balch
b
: a hot mixture of ingredients cooked or eaten together
They were supping or breakfasting together off a hot mess of meat and vegetables …—Henry Vizetelly
Henry VizetellyExamples of hot mess in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Whether the 2026 team looks like a masterpiece, or a hot mess comes down to how the players and coaches jell this summer, which starts this week with on-field work during OTAs.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 18 May 2026
Then came the even hotter hot mess of the Producer Price Index, which tracks wholesale prices that businesses pay one another and tends to foreshadow changes to consumer prices.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 14 May 2026
Suddenly, a hot mess became Bo Nix against the New York Giants.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 14 May 2026
Ultimately, that’s why this race is a hot mess — none of the candidates, Republican or Democrat, have offered a vision inspiring enough to make voters want to trust them with the next four or eight years.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hot mess
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Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 18 May 2026
Then came the even hotter hot mess of the Producer Price Index, which tracks wholesale prices that businesses pay one another and tends to foreshadow changes to consumer prices.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 14 May 2026
Suddenly, a hot mess became Bo Nix against the New York Giants.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 14 May 2026
Ultimately, that’s why this race is a hot mess — none of the candidates, Republican or Democrat, have offered a vision inspiring enough to make voters want to trust them with the next four or eight years.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hot mess
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Hot Mess
Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings
Cite this Entry
“Hot mess.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hot%20mess. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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