How to Use hotly in a Sentence

hotly

adverb
  • And so, this is one of the issues which is is hotly debated right now.
    — CBS News, 20 May 2020
  • The idea has been batted around and hotly debated for a long time.
    — Fatima Hussein, oregonlive, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Donovan should be hotly pursued for some of the jobs elsewhere on this list.
    — Jeff McDonald, ExpressNews.com, 12 Sep. 2020
  • The race was one of the most hotly contested among the five seats up for grabs on the council.
    — Taylor Kate Brown, SFChronicle.com, 10 Nov. 2020
  • Pros and cons are hotly debated.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
  • But how much any of this will work is hotly debated in Taiwan.
    — The Economist, 8 Aug. 2019
  • Those questions have been hotly debated in the public square over the past few weeks.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 20 Sep. 2021
  • The news comes as voter fraud has been hotly debated across the country.
    — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, 1 Mar. 2021
  • Perhaps the most hotly debate of the three bills has been the ban on foam food and drink containers.
    — Luke Broadwater, baltimoresun.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • Seats that had been held for decades were the subject of crowded and hotly contested races.
    — CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Like the novel, the show was hotly discussed, at least in certain circles.
    — Adelle Waldman, The Atlantic, 9 July 2024
  • But his claims to be a film producer are hotly contested.
    — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
  • The forces behind the death toll are complex and hotly debated.
    — Erin Cox, Washington Post, 1 Aug. 2019
  • That's not to say today's matchup won't be intense and hotly contested.
    — Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 May 2025
  • Yet the issue of how to mete out the research money has been hotly debated.
    — New York Times, 18 May 2021
  • The danger of glyphosate is hotly debated.
    — Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2026
  • The race is sure to be hotly contested in the general election.
    — Carrie Dann, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2018
  • But the role of retail investors in the rally is hotly debated.
    — Anne Sraders, Fortune, 15 June 2020
  • The role of the church has been hotly contested in pre-trial proceedings.
    — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 18 Oct. 2022
  • The origins of the pandemic have been hotly debated since its start.
    — Youri Benadjaoud, ABC News, 18 Apr. 2025
  • While the seat is among the most hotly contested in the state this year, District 29 leans to the right.
    — Annie Martin, orlandosentinel.com, 28 Oct. 2020
  • The plea agreements have been hotly contested since they were announced at the end of July.
    — Michael Loria, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2025
  • To be sure, whether or not the market is in the midst of an AI bubble is still hotly debated.
    — Paolo Confino, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2024
  • But there were also rivalries — and who got to control a bigger share of the work was hotly contested.
    — Fatma Tanis, NPR, 4 Apr. 2026
  • There was a surprisingly large turnout for a team headed to the draft lottery and the game was hotly contested.
    — Dana Gauruder, Detroit Free Press, 14 Mar. 2020
  • The fixture was hotly contested from the kick-off and some brilliant end-to-end football from both sides got the fans riled up in the first half.
    — SI.com, 14 Sep. 2019
  • The flowering of music-making in the deep past is hotly debated.
    — Franz Lidz, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023
  • The race is sure to be one of the most hotly contested in the country next year in purple Wisconsin.
    — Scott Bauer, chicagotribune.com, 10 Jan. 2022
  • But the issue of where the blame ultimately lies has been hotly contested in the courtroom.
    — Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 5 Oct. 2024
  • Meanwhile, the number of fast-food job losses caused by the policy is still hotly debated.
    — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 22 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hotly.' 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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