slow burn
noun Informal.
a gradual building up of anger, as opposed to an immediate outburst: I did a slow burn as the conversation progressed.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
rage, fury, exasperation, pique, displeasure, scorn, resentment, ire, annoyance, passion, indignation, tantrum, impatience, sensitivity, anger, outburst, acrimony, enmity, antagonism, violence
Nearby words
- sloven,
- slovene,
- slovenia,
- slovenly,
- slow,
- slow but steady wins the race,
- slow but sure,
- slow cooker,
- slow down,
- slow fire
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for slow burn
Alex Edwards, Founder of Natural High, agrees with this slow-burn philosophy.
There are “not a lot of Rwandas, but a lot of slow-burn horrific conflicts,” she said.
The plot often advances at a slow-burn pace as unresolved issues materialize down the line.
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
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.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.