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Definition

Something that emerges or unfolds slowly or gradually.

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In Context

  • "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."
  • "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]"
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "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.”"
  • "The comedy comes from the patient slow burn of the parents as they try to ignore the explosive belligerence of the boys."
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "Another familiar trope, the slow burn, teases the reader as characters secretly pine for one another . . . for a long time."
  • "Slow burns are torture. Why wait? I want my characters getting down and dirty ASAP, and there's nothing wrong with that."
  • "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)."
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Also Said As

  • slow burner
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Opposite In Meaning

  • outburst
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See Also

  • slow-burn
  • slow burner
  • slow-burning