How to Use hot potato in a Sentence

hot potato

noun
  • He tried to avoid taking a strong stand on political hot potatoes like abortion.
  • Press hot potato flesh through a ricer or food mill into a large bowl.
    — Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Aug. 2025
  • This was a hot potato, with interested parties waiting to see if the meeting would be called, because, if so, its outcome was predictable.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Since no specific agency has the responsibility, the audit has become a hot potato, with no one stepping up to complete the work.
    — PC Magazine, 13 Nov. 2025
  • Since no specific agency has the responsibility, the audit has become a hot potato, with no one stepping up to complete the work.
    — PC Magazine, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Indeed, the Women’s Tag Team Championship has been involved in a scorching game of hot potato over the past year.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
  • Crisping the perfect pizza crust on a baking steel, searing steaks on a grill, draining a pot of scalding pasta water, or pulling a hot potato from an oven—none of these are the time or place to play it fast and loose.
    — Adam Campbell-Schmitt, Bon Appetit Magazine, 17 June 2026
  • After Wembanyama’s next attempt, all six coaches played a jocular game of hot potato amongst themselves before delivering the ball back to him at the foul line.
    — Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 21 Mar. 2026
  • And when gold began to capitulate soon after, investors dropped mining stocks like a hot potato… and never returned, even as gold crossed above $4,000.
    — Frank Holmes, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Then, as in a game of hot potato, chlorophyll and other pigment molecules funnel this excess energy to the reaction center of the photosystem.
    — Quanta Magazine, 10 June 2026
  • The Wiggles are handling a different type of hot potato — a workplace dispute that has reached Australia’s Federal Court.
    — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Touted as a reform measure that would increase the city’s low voter turnout, the even-year proposal posed a mathematical problem that quickly became a political hot potato.
    — Miami Herald, 14 May 2026
  • Not helping matters is the fact that, despite being arguably the most consequential children’s show in history, Sesame Street has spent this past year being passed around like a hot potato by different streaming partners.
    — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2025
  • With time winding down, Curry intercepted a pass at halfcourt and tossed it ahead to Butler, who played hot potato with Green before finishing a two-handed dunk for two of his team-best 16 points in the first half.
    — Evan Webeck, Mercury News, 23 Dec. 2025
  • The former is a hot potato requiring careful handling, with toxic elements of the fanbase to handle, along with the challenge of actually producing a hit from JK Rowling’s books.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 25 Mar. 2026
  • The Astrodome — which, along with NRG Stadium, is owned by Harris County — has become a political hot potato as the years have rolled by with its doors padlocked.
    — John Lomax V, Houston Chronicle, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Awards coverage is a hot potato in the wake of the furor surrounding the BBC’s transmission of the BAFTA Film Awards.
    — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 5 Mar. 2026
  • For decades, toxic chemicals used in carpet manufacturing have made their way into the local water supply, setting off rounds of accountability hot potato among manufacturers, chemical makers, regulators and local utilities.
    — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 3 Feb. 2026
  • The ongoing legal drama surrounding the audit, approved by 72% of Massachusetts voters in the 2024 election, has become quite the political hot potato for Healey, who has publicly expressed her support for the audit, but has not gone beyond that with any substantive actions.
    — Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 9 June 2026

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

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