slow-burn

See also: slow burn

English

Noun

slow-burn (plural slow-burns)

1. Alternative form of slow burn.

Adjective

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

1. (idiomatic) Emerging or unfolding slowly or gradually.

   Synonym: slow-burning

   • 2023 September 30, Patrick Wintour, “‘No turning back’: how the Ukraine war has profoundly changed the EU”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     This restructuring is a slow-burn disaster for the funding of the Russian war machine.

   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.

Related terms

• slow burn
• slow burner
• slow-burning

 

Verb

slow-burn (third-person singular simple present slow-burns, present participle slow-burning, simple past and past participle slow-burned)

1. (intransitive, rare) To emerge or unfold slowly.
   • 2024 August 9, Laura Snapes, “It’s a femininomenon! How Chappell Roan slow-burned her way to stardom”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     When the Missouri-born 26-year-old released her debut album last September, it marked the beginning of a slow-burning second act in pop. [see title]