slow burn

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slow burn (plural slow burns)

1. (idiomatic) A gradually increasing feeling of anger or frustration.
   • 1957 July 1, “Scoreboard”, in Time:

     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 (film review)," Boston Globe (retrieved 8 Apr. 2009):

     The comedy comes from the patient slow burn of the parents as they try to ignore the explosive belligerence of the boys.

   Antonym: outburst

2. (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", 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.

• do a slow burn

slow burn (comparative more slow burn, superlative most slow burn)

1. (fiction, fandom slang, of a romantic relationship) Developing slowly over the course of the story.
   • 2018, Jessica Spotswood, The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls, unnumbered page:

     Clarke and Lexa's slow-burn romance—and the fan fiction that Vi devoured about it —led to her joining Tumblr and starting to write her own fanfic.

   • 2018, Lindsay Mixer, "'And Then They Boned': An Analysis Of Fanfiction And Its Influence On Sexual Development", thesis submitted Humboldt State University, page 48:

     Since most respondents who prefer slow-burn fics are on the asexual spectrum, this is not surprising, as they are less likely to desire sexual experiences with others in general.

   • 2020, Shania O'Brien, "The horny POV: Evolution of modern fanfiction", Honi Soit (University of Sydney), Week 5, Semester 5 (2020), page 18:

     Slow burn fics, for instance, can go as far as having seventy thousand words before the character pairing even interacts.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:slow burn.

• “slow burn”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.