Meanings
hot wheels1
- Alternative letter-case form of Hot Wheels (“scale model car created by Hot Wheels”).
hot wheels2
- pluralplural of hot wheel
Hot Wheels3
attributive Hot Wheel · alternative hot wheels
- informalpluralsingularA scale model car created by Hot Wheels.
I would like you to bring me a G. I. Joe, a hot wheels,^([sic]) Movie^([sic]) projector, bike and Spirograph.^([sic])
1969 December 18, Howard McCoy, quotee, “Letters to Santa Claus”, in The Herald, page 213 more examples
But what is this contraption Greg Donaldson finished a month ago? That, says Donaldson, is the first question most people ask when they spot the red object that looks like a cross between a Hot Wheels and a Star Wars spaceship.
1989 October 30, Jenny Labalme, “Donaldson's car is 'one-of-a-kind'”, in The Anniston Star, page 5ABecky glanced briefly at her hand, more interested in the Dirty Dancing soundtrack on the CD player than in poker. Besides, she always brought junk to bet with—her mom was a dental hygienist, and Becky had once again showed up with a bag of Colgate samples and old magazines. "I'll match with a dental floss, and raise you a Hot Wheels and a condom."
2000, Herb Childress, Landscapes of Betrayal, Landscapes of Joy: Curtisville in the Lives of Its Teenagers, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 205One night my brother and I had an argument over a Hot Wheels and I remember going to bed wishing I was bigger and stronger so I could beat the tar out of him, I was angry and furious.
2022, Paco Jenkins, Walking Towards God, Dorrance Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 11Synonyms: Hot Wheel
alternative hot wheels
- derogatoryslangNickname for a person who uses a wheelchair.
- USderogatoryslangspecificallygovernmentNickname for Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who seemingly made fun of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, is now claiming that her comments referring to him as "Governor Hot Wheels" while speaking at a banquet in Los Angeles on Saturday were not about Abbott's disability, but rather "his terrible policies."
2025 March 26, Lalee Ibssa and Jon Haworth, “Rep. Jasmine Crockett defends 'Governor Hot Wheels' comments about Abbott amid censure threat”, in ABC News
Hot Wheels4
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA scale model car created by Hot Wheels.
Origin
From Hot Wheels, an American brand of scale model cars invented and coined by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on 18 May 1968; likely from hot rod (“a passenger vehicle modified to run and/or accelerate faster”) + wheels (“an automobile or other vehicle”), as the company was made to produce fantasy hot rods, but also proposed to be from hot (“very good, remarkable, exciting; nice”) + wheels due to the uniqueness of the cars. The proper noun sense, specifically about the American politician Greg Abbott, is from his use of a wheelchair since a paralyzing accident in 1984.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
hot wheels. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20wheels
“hot wheels.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20wheels. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hot wheels,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20wheels.
Source: hot wheels on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.