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.

Example sentences from the Web for slow burn

British Dictionary definitions for slow burn

slow burn

noun

a steadily penetrating show of anger or contempt

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.