hot take

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hot take (plural hot takes)

1. A bold, broad, and subjective moral generalization on a situation, with little or no original analysis or insight, especially by a journalist.
   • 2014 Jully 11, "Denver Post Columnist Writes The Hottest LeBron Take Ever" Drew Magary, Deadspin.com:

     We need a hero. We need the boldest, hottest take possible, issued without apology, and without ANY kind of self-awareness. We need Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla, who yesterday issued the Last Supper of hot takes [...].

   • 2015, Chris Lehmann, ‘The Candidates’, London Review of Books, volume 37, number 12:

     Carson’s demented Obama-vilifying hot takes – Obamacare was ‘the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery’ – are too extreme to gain a serious following even among the apocalyptic rank-and-file of today’s GOP.

   • 2020 August 23, Robert Mitchell, “‘What’s the Matter with Kansas?’ The words still resonate 124 years later.”, in Washington Post:

     Today, 124 years after its publication, “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” might be described as the archetypal political “hot take” — written in anger and filled with insulting characterizations of political opponents.

   • 2025 March 4, Marina Hyde, “It’s With Love, Meghan – not just a TV show but a landmark piece of art. And not in a good way”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     In fact, watching With Love, Meghan early this morning already felt like a past washing over me, so much so that I decided that maybe – and please stay with me for this hot take – maybe, Meghan has made a landmark TV series after all.

2. (loosely, social media) A controversial opinion.

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