hothouse

1 of 2

noun

hot·​house ˈhät-ˌhau̇s 

1

: a greenhouse maintained at a high temperature especially for the culture of tropical plants

2

: hotbed sense 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

Synonyms

Noun

• conservatory
• glasshouse [chiefly British]
• greenhouse

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

Noun

The social networks that will come out of these brainy hothouses will undoubtedly have surprising cultural consequences. —John Rennie, IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2011

The big exception is in the Cretaceous (a period dominated by dinosaurs), which saw a hothouse climate develop, while carbon dioxide levels appeared to remain flat. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 20 Sep. 2024

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

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1556, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Adjective

1771, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

hothouse

noun

hot·​house

-ˌhau̇s

: a heated greenhouse

hothouse adjective