bunny boiler

British  

noun

1. slang a person, esp a woman, who is considered to be emotionally unstable and likely to be dangerously vengeful

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Etymology

Origin of bunny boiler

C20: from the 1987 film Fatal Attraction , in which a female character boils a pet rabbit to terrorize the family of the lover who spurns her

Example Sentences

The film also introduced the movie-going world to the term “bunny boiler”: an unstable, likely sexually motivated woman who will do anything in service to revenge, including cooking up a child’s beloved pet.

From Salon

This is Close’s No 1 role, the one she turned into a cultural icon, the ultimate nemesis, every straying man’s worst nightmare, and the character who donated the phrase “bunny boiler” to the English language.

From The Guardian

My husband thinks we should tell him because telling a near-stranger they need to rename their dog is “bunny boiler”–level strange.

From Slate

No one accused me of being a “bunny boiler” like, say, Glenn Close, in “Fatal Attraction.”

From The New Yorker

Read the full recap here, but the TL;DR version is that Michelle clued Graham in to the details of AshLee’s behavior, and Graham couldn’t simultaneously process the fact that his lady seems to be one bunny short of being a bunny boiler and accept AshLee’s proffered rose.

From Time