hot potato

noun

1. Informal. a situation or issue that is difficult, unpleasant, or risky to deal with.
2. British Informal. a baked potato.

hot potato

noun

1. slang.
   an awkward or delicate matter

Word History and Origins

Origin of hot potato¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Idioms and Phrases

A problem so controversial and sensitive that it is risky to deal with. For example, Gun control is a political hot potato . This term, dating from the mid-1800s, alludes to the only slightly older expression drop like a hot potato , meaning “to abandon something or someone quickly” (lest one be burned). The idiom alludes to the fact that cooked potatoes retain considerable heat because they contain a lot of water.

Example Sentences

In states with abortion bans, such patients are sometimes bounced between hospitals like “hot potatoes,” with health care providers reluctant to participate in treatment that could attract a prosecutor, doctors told ProPublica.

From Salon

Gaza has been a hot potato on the campaign trail, and this is a conflict that the winning party will inherit.

From Los Angeles Times

Climate change has been viewed almost universally as a burden, a hot potato to be passed from country to country at annual climate change conferences.

From Los Angeles Times

Studios, streamers and indie distributors were understandably wary of picking up such a political hot potato.

From Los Angeles Times

Lobbying is heavy over the final rule, giving Biden a political hot potato in a premier battleground state with fewer than six months until November’s election.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• crisis
• emergency
• exposure
• insecurity
• instability
• jeopardy
• menace
• peril
• pitfall
• possibility
• probability
• risk
• threat
• uncertainty
• vulnerability