# hot garbage

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/hot-garbage
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Anything that is extremely bad, low-quality, or worthless.

## Examples

- This new movie is absolute hot garbage.
- The report was full of errors and missing data, so the manager called it hot garbage.
- After reading the poorly written manuscript, the editor dismissed the entire project as hot garbage that would never sell.

## Origin

From the compound of hot, in its mid-20th-century sense of radioactive, and garbage. The term originated in the nuclear industry to denote radioactive waste materials before evolving into a general descriptor for the highly undesirable.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.