A woman who is sexy in a flashy and obvious way. The phrase reached its maximum popularity through an early 20th-century entertainer named Sophie Tucker, who billed herself as “the Last of the Red Hot Mamas” (history fails to reveal who was the first). Nothing about her was shy or demure—one of her songs began, “You've got to see Mama ev'ry night or you can't see Mama at all.” As a description of a woman who appealed to male carnal appetites, the phrase was used by men and often, like Ms. Tucker, by the women themselves.