hot water

noun

: a difficult or dangerous situation : trouble entry 1 sense 4

—used with in or into

But this poor fellow was always getting into hot water, and if there was a wrong way of doing a thing, was sure to hit upon it.

—Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

In recent years, comedians have found themselves in hot water for making politically incorrect topics about everything from race to gender.

—James Hohmann

Examples of hot water in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The latest allegations surfaced from Miller’s divorce from Emily Moreno and include physical and emotional abuse of their toddler as well as throwing hot water at his wife and other acts of violence. — Max Rivera, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2026

According to court filings, Moreno alleged that Miller had previously thrown hot water at her and held a gun to her head. — Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

No hot water was available in the kitchen handwashing sink and the pipe under the warewashing sink was leaking. — Vince Basada august 7, Sacbee.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Andrew’s American Pizza Kitchen at 1401 Preston Road was temporarily closed after health inspectors found no hot water at two hand sinks and the dishwasher. — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hot water

• backwater
• bathwater
• blackwater
• breakwater
• deepwater
• edgewater
• feedwater
• floodwater
• freshwater
• granddaughter
• groundwater
• headwater

Kids Definition

hot water

noun

: a distressing situation : trouble

in hot water for not doing my chores