熱い
atsui
In Japanese a plate and a person can both be 'hot'
The picture Bring your hand close and something pushes out from inside it, making your fingers flinch back. 熱い pushes heat out at you; 冷たい pulls the heat out of your hand.
Where the picture shows up in 熱い
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an object is hot
やけどしますよ、お皿が熱いです。
yakedo shi-masu yo, osara ga atsui desu
Careful, you'll burn yourself — the plate is hot.
A fingertip touches the plate and the hand snaps back to grab an earlobe
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a drink is hot
コーヒーは熱いまま飲みたいです。
kōhī wa atsui mama nomi-tai desu
I want to drink the coffee while it's hot.
Steam climbing straight off a cup and fogging a pair of glasses
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a body has fever
熱があって体が熱いです。
netsu ga at-te karada ga atsui desu
I have a fever, so my body feels hot.
A palm on a forehead that feels hotter than the blanket
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a person burns for it
彼は仕事に熱い人です。
kare wa shigoto ni atsui hito desu
He's passionate about his work.
Alone in a dark office, still holding the file and raising his voice about it
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a topic is on fire
今この話題が熱いです。
ima kono wadai ga atsui desu
This topic is hot right now.
Fingers crowding one screen as comments stack up without a pause
熱い also describes a trend, a match, or a contest at its peak.
All of it in one picture
熱い is one thing pushing out from the inside. Pushing off a plate, you can't hold it; pushing off a cup, the steam climbs; pushing off a body, that's a fever; pushing off a person, that's someone burning for the work. And pushing off a topic, that's what everyone is piling onto right now.