Meanings
nounhot war (plural hot wars)
plural hot wars
- A conflict in which physically violent fighting takes place between the belligerent parties.
Synonyms: shooting war · Antonyms: cold war
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA conflict in which physically violent fighting takes place between the belligerent parties.
Similar
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By analogy with cold war.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حَرْب سَاخِنَة
- حَرْب سَاخِنَة (ḥarb sāḵina)conflict with actual fighting
Chinese Cantonese 熱戰 /热战
- 熱戰 /热战 (jit⁶ zin³)conflict with actual fighting
Chinese Mandarin 熱戰 /热战
- 熱戰 /热战 (rèzhàn)conflict with actual fighting
Czech horká válka, otevřená válka
- horká válkaconflict with actual fighting
- otevřená válkaconflict with actual fighting
Finnish kuuma sota
- kuuma sotaconflict with actual fighting
French guerre chaude
- guerre chaudeconflict with actual fighting
German heißer Krieg
- heißer Kriegconflict with actual fighting
Japanese 熱戦, 熱い戦争
- 熱戦 (nessen)conflict with actual fighting
- 熱い戦争 (atsui sensō)conflict with actual fighting
Korean 열전
- 열전 (yeoljeon)conflict with actual fighting
Polish otwarta wojna, gorąca wojna
- otwarta wojnaconflict with actual fighting
- gorąca wojnaconflict with actual fighting
Russian горя́чая война́
- горя́чая война́ (gorjáčaja vojná)conflict with actual fighting
Spanish guerra caliente
- guerra calienteconflict with actual fighting
Ukrainian гаря́ча війна́
- гаря́ча війна́ (harjáča vijná)conflict with actual fighting
Cite this entry
APA
hot war. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20war
MLA
“hot war.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20war. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hot war,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20war.
Source: hot war on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.