Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. In this lesson, I'm going to talk about some vocabulary words that you can use to give deeper meaning to the adjective "hot." For this lesson, I've prepared this adjective wheel. At the center of the wheel is this word "hot," our focus adjective. So, I'm going to talk about several different meanings of this word, and give you some more vocabulary that you can use to be more specific in your writing and in your conversations. Let's get started.
Okay. I'm going to start with this part of this adjective wheel. So, again, our focus adjective is the word "hot." And, I'm going to talk about different meanings for it, different senses for this word, different ways to understand "hot." So, the first one that I want to look at is this part right here. This part focuses on the meaning of high temperature, high temperature. So, we use "hot" to refer to things that are high temperature, and this can be for food, or for drink, for objects. It can also be for the weather. So, I've chosen a couple adjectives here you can use to talk about these different types of high temperature, "hot." First, let's take a look at this word. This is "scalding," scalding. So, when we say something is "scalding," or you might also hear "scalding hot," it refers to an object often and we use it a lot to talk about food. For example, in this sentence, "This soup is scalding." "This soup is scalding." So, "scalding" comes from the verb "to scald," to scald. "To scald" means something is so hot that it causes like an injury. It causes a burn on the skin. So, you might also hear "burning" or "burning hot." "This soup is burning hot," you could say. But, you might also hear, "This soup is scalding," or "This dish is scalding." So, something that is so high in temperature, it can cause an injury. That's "scalding," scalding.
On the other hand, this one "sweltering," sweltering. So, "sweltering" is used to talk about the weather. We use this word when it's very hot outside, of course, high temperature. But, also, we tend to use it in humid places. So, humid, or you might know the word "muggy," refers to a weather condition in which there's a lot of moisture. There's a lot of water in the air. So, we say, "It's sweltering," when it's very hot, very high temperature, and often when there's a lot of moisture in the air. For example, "It's sweltering outside today." So, you could describe a summer day with the word "sweltering." It's a little more specific. A lot more specific than just saying "hot." If you say, "It's hot outside today." It sounds like, yeah, it's high temperature. But, if you say, "It's sweltering outside today," it means high temperature, and maybe there's lots and lots of humidity. So, these words are much more specific than just "hot." So, "scalding" tells you it might be so high temperature, it's dangerous. "Sweltering" tells you that it's hot, and also kind of moist out there.
Okay. Let's continue to the next part. The next sense I want to talk about for the word "hot" is "spicy," spicy. So, we use "spicy" to talk about food. I want to introduce a couple adjectives that can give you a little bit more of a specific way to explain "spicy" in terms of food. So, a "spicy" food is pepper. We have this adjective "peppery." Something that is "peppery" tastes like pepper. So, it's spicy, yes. But, it has like the pepper kind of spice about it. So, maybe you know that there are many different kinds of pepper. You can use it for red pepper, or black pepper, white pepper, whatever. "Peppery" is something that you can use to talk about spicy flavors that come from a type of pepper. For example, "The steak is a little peppery." "The steak is a little peppery." So, that means "spicy," yes. And, that spicy feeling comes from pepper. Some type of pepper.
Another adjective you can consider is "zesty," zesty. So, for example, "I like this zesty sauce." So, "zesty" is often something that we use in sauces, or maybe like in toppings for things. Perhaps it might be like a "zesty oil," as well. It tends to be used with things that have like some kind of herb or some kind of plant in it with a really strong flavor. So, a good example of this might be like cilantro. Cilantro has a really strong flavor. Some people really like it. And, when you combine that with other ingredients, it gets really, really strong. So, we might describe that as "zesty." Something that is "zesty" could be considered "spicy," as well. So, you might consider something "zesty" as a spicy food -- some people, depending on their taste.
Okay. On to the next understanding, the next way to understand "hot." It is this one here, "passionate," passionate. So, this is a little bit different from the words -- from the sense "sexy," which I'll talk about later. "Passionate" refers to doing something in a passionate way, or something that you have lots of enthusiasm for. So, let's take a look at these two words I've chosen. I've chosen inside "passionate," inside the sense of "passionate, hot." I've chosen "lively" and "furious," lively and furious. We use these words a lot to talk about events, to talk about discussions, debates. These kinds of things where people gather, to do something together. So, some examples are, "They had a furious debate," and "We enjoyed a lively discussion after the presentation." Okay. So, what's the difference here? These both mean "passionate." "Lively" sounds much more positive. "Lively" sounds like it's exciting. People are enthusiastic, and they're probably having a good time.
"Furious," on the other hand, sounds like it's very passionate. Yes, lots of enthusiasm, but someone is angry or upset, or they're really not happy. So, this, they had a furious debate. Sounds like someone was angry, or people were upset. In this sentence, "We enjoyed a lively discussion after the presentation," it sounds very positive. So, you could swap the adjectives if you want to and say like, "They had a lively debate," sounds positive, or this sentence. We probably wouldn't include, "They had a furious discussion." In this case, I've included "enjoyed." But, you could say, "They had a furious discussion after the presentation," and it would sound very angry. It would sound rather negative. So, when you want to talk about something passionate, an event or a discussion that is very passionate, that has lots of enthusiasm, you can do that with words like these. So, positive, "lively" sounds positive, "furious" sounds rather negative.
Okay. Let's continue on to the next sense of this word. The next one is "new," new. So, when we say that something is "hot," like a "hot product," for example, it refers to the product being new. Here are a couple more words that you can use to be more specific about your use of "new." First is "trendy," trendy. So, trendy means something that is recent, something that has come out recently, and that many people are interested in because it is a trend. Like, because companies or because a group of people have said, "Oh, this is the item for this season," or "This is the popular item right now." So, it's a trend. Many people want it because it's popular now. It's the thing to buy now. So, that's "trendy," trendy inside "new."
Another word that's useful is "fresh," fresh. So, you can use this when you're talking about food, like fresh vegetables or fresh fruits. You can also use it to mean something that is new, something that is new. Like a product or a piece of art from someone that has -- and it has like this kind of positive meaning, something that is maybe unique in some way. So, some examples of this. First, with "fresh." "My favorite singer just released a fresh album." So, that sounds like it's brand new. It's totally new, and it sounds kind of positive. It sounds like it's just come out and we're excited about it. So, "fresh." When you think of "fresh" for like vegetables or fruits, it sounds really good, right? Like something you want to eat or something that you want to consume right away because it's so new. So, we have that same feeling with this kind of fresh that we use for like an album, in this case, or a song. This fresh song. You might also hear it called the "fresh, new song," too. They might get put together. So, "fresh" has that very positive like just came out feeling.
Trendy, on the other hand, "I don't usually buy trendy clothes or accessories." So, again, "trendy" refers to something that is popular just because other people think it's popular. So, in this case, I'm saying I don't usually buy trendy clothes. So, we use this sometimes to refer to something that is popular at the time. Like, "Oh, that's a trendy fashion item," or "Wow! What a trendy store," or something like that. But, "trendy' also has that meaning of like it's probably going to change soon. Like, it's a little bit just for the moment. So, something that is trendy is not necessarily negative. Though many people do use it to talk negatively. Like, "That's just a trendy store. I don't want to go there. It's going to go away." So, you can use it to talk about things that you think are going to disappear, trends, or stores, or whatever. But, you can also use it just to talk about things that are popular right now. So, these are a couple words you can use to more specifically express something that is new. So, you might hear "hot" used in these ways too. Like, "Mm, my favorite singer just released a hot new album." So, you might hear it used in that way. "Trendy" can refer to music or something that is hot right now, could be called "trendy." Like, "Oh, that's so hot right now." That would be called "trendy." Something that is hot right now is "trendy."
Okay. Let's go on to the last sense of the word "hot." So, we can use "hot" to mean "sexy," when we're talking about people, when we're talking about maybe smells as well. So, something that is sexy is something that we find attractive. Usually, it's physically attractive, though, with our other senses, too. We find some kind of attraction in something that is "sexy." So, a couple of other words that you can use to mean "hot," in terms of sexy here, you can use the word "flirtatious," flirtatious. Someone who is "flirtatious" is someone who likes to flirt or they flirt a lot. So, "flirting" refers to kind of chatting very casually with people, making small touches, trying to make jokes, and so on. So, you're trying to build kind of a friendly, a little more friendly, like a light romantic feeling between two people. So, that's called "flirting." When we want to talk about someone who does that, or someone who likes to do that, we can describe that person as "flirtatious."
So, for example, "He's a flirtatious guy," or "She's a flirtatious girl." So, that means that someone who flirts a lot, or someone who likes to flirt. "He's a flirtatious guy," "She's a flirtatious girl." So, we could say like, "Oh, he's a hot guy," or "She's a hot girl." If we want to be more specific, like why? Why is that person hot? Or, why is that person sexy? Maybe we can say, "Oh, because they're flirtatious," he's flirtatious, she's flirtatious. So, that's another way to describe someone. One more word you can think of is the word "seductive," seductive. So, this one is not as light as the word "flirtatious." So, something that is "seductive," or a person that is "seductive," is someone or something that kind of draws your attention and draws you in, like they act. A person might act, or like you might smell something, or hear some sounds that cause you to feel attraction. So, the idea is this person or this thing is trying to cause attraction to happen. So, we can describe a person as "seductive." Like, "Oh, she's so seductive," or "He's very seductive."
We can also describe, for example, smells as "seductive." Like, "That perfume has a seductive aroma." So, it's like the perfume, or the aroma of the perfume, causes you to feel attraction to the person wearing it because it smells so good. So, "seductive" can be used to talk about people and things. "Flirtatious," we use to talk about people. So, instead of just saying like, "Oh, wow! Like, he's a hot guy," or she's a hot guy, you could say like, "Wow! He has a very seductive feeling about him," or "She's very seductive." So, that's a more specific vocabulary word to use than just "hot," or maybe "sexy" as well.
So, these are a few vocabulary words that you can consider to more specifically describe the adjective "hot." Of course, there are many, many more words that you can use. You can check out a thesaurus to find some more synonyms -- "synonyms" means words that mean the same thing. So, you can find a lot more synonyms for each of these senses of the word "hot." But, I hope that this is enough to get you going. Thanks very much for watching this lesson, and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye.

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