hothouse

1 of 2

noun

hot·​house ˈhät-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce hothouse (audio)
1
: a greenhouse maintained at a high temperature especially for the culture of tropical plants
2
3
obsolete : brothel

hothouse

2 of 2

adjective

1
: grown in a hothouse
2
: suggestive of growth and development in a hothouse
a hothouse existence
also : suggesting a hothouse
a hothouse atmosphere

Examples of hothouse in a Sentence

Noun grows tomatoes in his hothouse all winter long an urban enclave of bohemians that acquired a reputation for being a hothouse of creativity
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Noun
Nothing in this quiet hothouse of youthful desires, mean-girl tensions and hovering Catholic guilt qualifies as especially new terrain, but the film’s dreamy-yet-gawky carnality and honestly juvenile point of view feel fresh just the same. Guy Lodge, Variety, 14 Feb. 2025 White set his comedic hothouse noir at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii, and, as season one grew in popularity, the public got behind it: the hotel-as-total-set worked brilliantly. Nick Remsen, Vogue, 4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
Fracas, fittingly beloved by personality-plus women such as Madonna, Martha Stewart, and Isabella Blow, dials the heady, hothouse opulence of tuberose up to 11 with the addition of jasmine, tonka bean, and musk. April Long, Town & Country, 13 Sep. 2019 These fragile and artificial economies require hothouse conditions that a weakened OPEC can no longer provide. Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 11 Dec. 2017 See All Example Sentences for hothouse

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1556, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Adjective

1771, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hothouse was in 1556

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hothouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hothouse. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

hothouse

noun
hot·​house
-ˌhau̇s
: a heated greenhouse
hothouse adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on hothouse

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