bunny-boiler

A form of bunny boiler — A person who acts (or may supposedly act) obsessively or even dangerously towards another person with whom they were previously, or wish to be, in a relationship.

Meanings

nounbunny-boiler (plural bunny-boilers)

plural bunny-boilers

  1. alternativeAlternative form of bunny boiler.

    There's nothing like portraying a psychopathic bunny-boiler to boost one's self-esteem, Glenn Close tells Ladies' Home Journal.

    [1990 December 6, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Tex.: The Dallas Morning News, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A2, column 3
    3 more examples

    Witness such media events as the Great Old Maid Scare of '86 (sparked by a study suggesting that a woman who hasn't married by age forty has less chance of doing so than of being shot by a terrorist); and the Fatal Attraction Syndrome (the notion that unmarried career women are so unfulfilled they turn into homicidal bunny-boilers).

    [1988, Glamour, volume 86, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 159

    The 1980s bunny-boiler was perceived to be infinitely more dangerous than the bra-burner; whereas the latter confined herself to a rejection of feminine accoutrements, the bunny-boiler – bolstered by the successes of the women's movement – did not hesitate to assert her rights and use violent means to achieve her goals.

    2009, Stéphanie Genz, “Boiling the Bunny: The Backlash and Macho Feminism”, in Postfemininities in Popular Culture, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, part I (From “Feminine Mystique” to “Girl Power”), page 66

    He wondered why he always landed bunny-boilers who started out cool and calm but speedily went into the pursuit mode of deadly missiles.

    2009, Lynne Graham, The Ruthless Magnate’s Virgin Mistress (Harlequin Presents; 2787), Toronto, Ont.; New York, N.Y.: Harlequin, →ISBN, page 10
Cite this entry
APA

bunny-boiler. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bunny-boiler

MLA

“bunny-boiler.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bunny-boiler. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bunny-boiler,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bunny-boiler.

Source: bunny-boiler on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.