slow-burn
slow-burn is the alternative form of slow burn.
Meaning of slow burn
Noun
slow burn (plural slow burns)
- Something that emerges or unfolds slowly or gradually.
- 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.2012 May 5, Jim Keeble, “I was a slow-burn dad”, in The Guardian
- Synonyms:
- slow burner
- A gradually increasing expression of emotion, especially anger or frustration.
- He's been in a slow burn all morning.
- A work of fiction with a slow-paced plot; also, such a storyline.
- 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...2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in The A.V. Club
- A romantic story (especially a work of fan fiction) in which the central relationship develops slowly.
- Another familiar trope, the slow burn, teases the reader as characters secretly pine for one another . . . for a long time.2018, Francesca DiPiazza, Fandom: Fic Writers, Vidders, Gamers, Artists, and Cosplayers, page 30
- A song that relies on anticipation and steady momentum; characteristically may be sparse or atmospheric.
- "Neon Gravestones" is a forlorn slow burn by Twenty One Pilots.
Adjective
slow-burn (comparative more slow-burn, superlative most slow-burn)
- Emerging or unfolding slowly or gradually.
- This restructuring is a slow-burn disaster for the funding of the Russian war machine.2023 September 30, Patrick Wintour, “‘No turning back’: how the Ukraine war has profoundly changed the EU”, in The Guardian
- Synonyms:
- slow-burning
- Developing slowly over the course of the story.
- 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, Jessica Spotswood, The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls, unnumbered page
- 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.2018, Lindsay Mixer, "'And Then They Boned': An Analysis Of Fanfiction And Its Influence On Sexual Development", thesis submitted Humboldt State University, page 48
Verb
slow-burn (third-person singular simple present slow-burns, present participle slow-burning, simple past and past participle slow-burned)
Synonyms of slow-burn
Forms of slow-burn
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | slow-burns |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more slow-burn |
| superlative | most slow-burn |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | slow-burns |
| present participle | slow-burning |
| past participle | slow-burned |
| past | slow-burned |
Questions about slow-burn
- What does slow-burn mean?
- Slow-burn means emerging or unfolding slowly or gradually.
- What is slow-burn the alternative form of?
- Slow-burn is the alternative form of slow burn.
- What part of speech is slow-burn?
- Slow-burn can be an adjective or a verb.
Words near slow-burn in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: slow-burn (page history and authors); slow burn (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “slow-burn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/slow-burn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.