hot-button

hot button

n. Slang

Something that elicits a strong emotional response or reaction: an issue that became a hot button among younger voters.

---

hot-but·ton adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hot′-but′ton

adj.

exciting strong feelings; highly charged; emotional: hot-button issues.

[1985–90]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.