hot mess

noun

plural hot messes

1

informal : something or someone that is emphatically a mess: such as

a

: something in a state of extreme disorder or disarray

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

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 Lindenn

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

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

b

: a hot mixture of ingredients cooked or eaten together

They were supping or breakfasting together off a hot mess of meat and vegetables, and rose up at our entrance, for the room boasted of a wooden bench and couple of ricketty stools.

—Henry Vizetelly

Examples of hot mess in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Compare that hot mess with a B2B site that sells exactly the same products—but takes a B2C approach. —Benjamin Crudo, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024

So our best models of the proton tell us that gluons are hot messes of strong force interactions. —Paul Sutter, Space.com, 24 Dec. 2024

Outside of Texas, the Big 12 was a hot mess of uncertainty. —Scott Dochterman, The Athletic, 21 Nov. 2024

Not to mention, Van Pelt’s top running back can’t stop fumbling, and the offensive line remains a hot mess. —Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 22 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1772, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Video

Hot Mess

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings