hornets' nest

Questions about hornets' nest

What does hornets' nest mean?

hornets' nest means "a highly contentious or hazardous situation". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for hornets' nest?

Close synonyms include hornet's nest, wasp's nest, wasps' nest, hornet's nest. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is hornets' nest a common word?

hornets' nest is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.