hot war

noun

: a conflict involving actual fighting compare cold war

Examples of hot war in a Sentence

fortunately, the cool relationship between the two nations never escalated into a hot war
Recent Examples on the Web And only when the construction of the Berlin Wall commenced in August of 1961 did an opportunity arise to hold a hot war at bay and stave off some of the era’s most catastrophic potentials, including a nuclear holocaust. Dmitri Alperovitch, Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2024 The escalation between Hezbollah and Israel along the Lebanon-Israel border has surged into a hot war since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 May 2024 This is an odd view of a man who directly enables genocide and foments hot wars with nuclear-armed Russia and China. Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 22 May 2024 Nobody wants to start a hot war in the region but a strong international coalition funded by regional petro-dollars needs to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic and completely isolate Iran economically. Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 19 Apr. 2024 Lukewarm statements that pretend as if there is no cold war perversely court a hot war. Matt Pottinger, Foreign Affairs, 10 Apr. 2024 And thanks in part to policies instituted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—whom Trump backed—a hot war has broken out in the Middle East. Arancha González Laya, Foreign Affairs, 2 Feb. 2024 And after a hot war gave way to the Cold War, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Chinese leader Mao Zedong negotiated a Sino-Soviet alliance that linked the two communist giants in their fight against the capitalist world. Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024 Under the rigors of a live, hot war, commercial products break down. Samanth Subramanian, WIRED, 5 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hot war.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hot war was in 1947

Dictionary Entries Near hot war

Cite this Entry

“Hot war.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hot%20war. Accessed 17 Jun. 2024.

Kids Definition

hot war

noun
: a conflict involving actual fighting
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!