Hothouse

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Hothouse

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun and adjective

Pronunciation

HOT-howss  /ˈhɒthaʊs/

Definition

As a noun: a heated greenhouse for growing plants that need warmth beyond what the natural climate provides; (figuratively) an environment that encourages rapid development, often under intense pressure. As an adjective: relating to or characteristic of such an intensely developmental environment; (of plants) grown in a hothouse; (of a person) raised or developed in an artificially sheltered or pressurised environment.

Plain meaning

A hothouse is a heated greenhouse for tropical or delicate plants that need warmth. Figuratively, a hothouse is an environment — a school, a team, a company — that develops talent rapidly through intense pressure and competition. A hothouse flower is someone so sheltered they cannot cope with real-world conditions.

Register

Neutral as a horticultural term; slightly elevated or metaphorical in figurative uses. The hothouse atmosphere of elite education is a journalistic and literary use; the hothouse flower describing a sheltered or fragile person is slightly dated and mildly derogatory.