hot-button

[ hot-buht-n ]

adjective

1. exciting strong feelings; highly charged; emotional:

   hot-button issues.

hot button

noun

1. informal.
   1. a controversial subject or issue that is likely to arouse strong emotions
   2. ( as modifier )

      the hot-button issue of abortion

Word History and Origins

Origin of hot-button¹

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

While McMahon’s views on many hot-button education issues are not well-known, the institute’s website focuses its priorities on “school choice,” parental approval of curriculum, basic skills and “teaching the truth about America’s history.”

From Los Angeles Times

After Justice Amy Coney Barrett replaced Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in late 2020, however, she shored up a new ultraconservative majority that left Roberts in the dust on hot-button issues over the next two years.

From Slate

In public statements he has posted on his website, he has not taken a clear position on many of the hot-button issues that have convulsed the county, although he did tell a local television station that he believed the county had an obligation to “fight back” against some state laws.

From Los Angeles Times

The Texas government churns out a steady stream of right-wing policies on immigration, abortion, education and other hot-button cultural issues.

From BBC

Though Ohioans officially voted to protect their access to abortion last fall, the hot-button issue has re-entered the fray in the state's Senate race as incumbent progressive Brown and Trump-backed Moreno face off for his seat.

From Salon