slow burn

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noun Informal.

a gradual building up of anger, as opposed to an immediate outburst: I did a slow burn as the conversation progressed.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for slow burn

rage, fury, exasperation, pique, displeasure, scorn, resentment, ire, annoyance, passion, indignation, tantrum, impatience, sensitivity, anger, outburst, acrimony, enmity, antagonism, violence

Examples from the Web for slow burn

Contemporary Examples of slow burn

Alex Edwards, Founder of Natural High, agrees with this slow-burn philosophy.
On Foot in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco
Joanna Eede
January 22, 2014
There are “not a lot of Rwandas, but a lot of slow-burn horrific conflicts,” she said.
Obama Announces Board Aimed at Preventing Next Genocide
Sarah Wildman
April 24, 2012
The plot often advances at a slow-burn pace as unresolved issues materialize down the line.
You Must Watch Parenthood!
Jace Lacob
February 21, 2011

British Dictionary definitions for slow burn

slow burn

noun

a steadily penetrating show of anger or contempt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with slow burn

slow burn

Slowly increasing anger. It is often put as do a slow burn, meaning “gradually grow angrier,” as in I did a slow burn when he kept me waiting for three hours. The burn in this idiom comes from burn up in the sense of “make furious.” The term was first cited in 1938 and was closely associated with comedian Edgar Kennedy.