หน้าร้อน

Explanation

Here, หน้า does not mean “face.” In season names, it refers to a season or period, while ร้อน means “hot.” The word therefore literally presents the idea of the “hot period.” The same everyday pattern appears in หน้าฝน, “rainy season,” and หน้าหนาว, “cool season” or “winter.” These three terms are commonly used when discussing Thailand’s seasons. When referring to Thailand, “hot season” is often more precise than “summer,” since the local seasonal cycle does not correspond exactly to the four seasons in temperate climates.

Usage

It is commonly used when discussing weather, travel periods, seasonal clothing, ways to cope with heat, and school holidays. Frequent expressions include ในหน้าร้อน, “in the summer/hot season,” and ช่วงหน้าร้อน, “during the hot season.”

Caution

This is the name of a season, not the usual way to say that it is hot today. For that, use วันนี้อากาศร้อน or วันนี้ร้อน. Also, do not interpret หน้า as “face” when หน้าร้อน is being used as a season name.

1 hot season synonyms

• ฤดูร้อน

  ฤดูร้อน also means “hot season” or “summer” and is the more explicit, standard term for the season. หน้าร้อน has the same basic meaning and is especially natural in everyday conversation.