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Meaning & use

hot commodity

noun·Everydayinformal

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UK/ˌhɒt kəˈmɒdəti/
US/ˌhɑːt kəˈmɑːdəti/

Meanings

  1. nouncountableinformal

    Someone or something that many people want right now, so that demand is strong.

    Grammar: Often used with a: she is a hot commodity; the plural is hot commodities.

    Patterns

    • be a hot commodity
    • become a hot commodity

    After his breakout season, the young pitcher became a hot commodity.

    Tickets to the final were a hot commodity within minutes.

    In this housing market, a small apartment near the station is a hot commodity.

  2. nouncountablefinance

    In trading, a raw material or farm product whose price is rising because buyers are eager to purchase it.

    Grammar: Used as a countable noun in markets: oil was the hot commodity.

    Patterns

    • trade a hot commodity

    Lithium became a hot commodity as demand for batteries climbed.

    Traders watched copper as it turned into a hot commodity.

Word forms

pluralhot commodities

Common combinations

become a hot commodity
The designer became a hot commodity after her show in Paris.
be a hot commodity
Good plumbers are a hot commodity in winter.
the hottest commodity
Clean water is the hottest commodity in the region.
a hot commodity on the market
Used electric cars are a hot commodity on the market.
remain a hot commodity
Skilled coders remain a hot commodity.

Synonyms and how they differ

hot property
Hot property is very close in meaning but is used mostly for people, such as athletes, and sounds more British.
hot item
Hot item is used mostly for products, and it suggests a short-lived trend more than hot commodity does.
in demand
In demand is a neutral phrase that works in formal writing, whereas hot commodity is vivid and informal.

Opposites

drug on the market

Word family

commodity noun
a product or raw material that can be bought and sold
commodify verb
to treat something as a product for sale
commoditize verb
to turn a product into a standard, interchangeable item
commodification noun
the process of turning something into a commodity

Commonly confused: hot commodity or hot potato?

hot commodity vs hot potato

A hot potato is a controversial issue nobody wants to deal with, which is the opposite of something everyone wants.

Practice

After the film went viral, the lead actor became a ____ in Hollywood.

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