# slow burn
## English
### Alternative forms

* slow-burn

### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Pronunciation

* Audio (General Australian):(file)

### Noun

slow burn (plural slow burns)
* (idiomatic) Something that emerges or unfolds slowly or gradually.
    Synonym: slow burner
** 2012 May 5, Jim Keeble, “I was a slow-burn dad”, in The Guardian‎:My own very personal journey into the deepest love of all – that of a parent for a child – was a slow burn. But it left me deeply connected to Milo in a way that I never imagined.
** 2015 April 9, Karl Mathiesen, “Permafrost 'carbon bomb' may be more of a slow burn, say scientists”, in The Guardian‎:The ‘carbon bomb’ stored in the thawing Arctic permafrost may be released in a slow leak as global warming takes hold, rather than an eruption, according to new research. [see title]
** 2023 August 22, Peter Lewis, “AI is not a one-time bomb, but a slow burn of devastation that is consuming jobs and culture”, in The Guardian‎:Thinking of AI like a bomb makes it seem like something that is deployed in a singular event, albeit one with devastating consequences rather than the slow burn that is consuming jobs and culture.
** A gradually increasing expression of emotion, espeically anger or frustration.
    Antonym: outburst
*** 1957 July 1, “Scoreboard”, in Time‎, archived from the original on 19 October 2011:In the ninth inning of a game with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Johnny Temple, Cincinnati Redleg second baseman, let a hot grounder sizzle through his legs, looked up to see the Scoreboard flash "error" and began a slow burn.
*** 1976, Alistair MacLean, The Golden Gate, page 125:Revson breathed deeply. “I shall try to conceal my slow burn, what the Victorians would call my mounting exasperation. I thought we had parted friends.”
*** 2008 July 25, Ty Burr, “‘Step Brothers’ is crude, rude—and funny”, in The Boston Globe‎ (film review):The comedy comes from the patient slow burn of the parents as they try to ignore the explosive belligerence of the boys.
** (fiction) A work of fiction with a slow-paced plot; also, such a storyline.
*** 2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in The A.V. Club‎:The second episode of tonight’s two part finale is the culmination of a storyline first introduced way back in the first season (episode ten, “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind”). That aired over seven years ago. Even shows that pay very close attention to serialization rarely manage that kind of slow burn.
*** 2023 May 2, Cath Clarke, “Wolf Garden review – English rural werewolf horror is a major slow burn”, in The Guardian‎:You might politely describe this werewolf thriller set in the English countryside, in which the werewolf is kept off-camera, as a slow-burn. A devastating revelation awaits us at the end, but for the first two-ish-thirds of the movie we watch a man in a cottage […] looking alarmed and perturbed, possibly having a psychotic breakdown.
*** 2024 June 16, Lucy Popescu, “The Cursed Friend by Beatrice Salvioni review – rebels with a cause”, in The Observer‎:Despite its dramatic opening, this is a slow burn of a novel. Salvioni might not display the flair of [Elena] Ferrante, but Francesca and Maddalena are vibrant characters for whom we quickly root.
*** (fiction, fandom slang) A romantic story (especially a work of fan fiction) in which the central relationship develops slowly.
**** 2018, Francesca DiPiazza, Fandom: Fic Writers, Vidders, Gamers, Artists, and Cosplayers, page 30:Another familiar trope, the slow burn, teases the reader as characters secretly pine for one another . . . for a long time.
**** 2019, Robinwritesallthethings, “porn with plot”, in Lemon, page 62:Slow burns are torture. Why wait? I want my characters getting down and dirty ASAP, and there's nothing wrong with that.
**** 2021, Aditi Dubey, “Considering Fanfic”, in Rabbit Hole, number 1, Australian National University, page 33:On some nights, I want a good long, juicy 70k word slowburn, mutual pining, angst (with a happy ending, of course, I'm not a monster).
**** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:slow burn.

#### Derived terms

* do a slow burn
* on a slow burn

#### Related terms

* slow-burn
* slow burner
* slow-burning

### Adjective

slow burn (comparative more slow burn, superlative most slow burn)
* Alternative form of slow-burn.

### References

* “slow burn”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.