bunny boiler

Definition

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.

Etymology

From a scene in the 1987 film Fatal Attraction where a scorned woman (played by Glenn Close), seeking revenge on her ex-lover (played by Michael Douglas), places his family’s beloved pet rabbit in a pot of boiling water when he is away from the house.

Example Sentences

• "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)."
• "There's nothing like portraying a psychopathic bunny-boiler to boost one's self-esteem, Glenn Close tells Ladies' Home Journal."
• "The bad news is that a small percentage of women are obsessive stalker types or "Bunny Boilers." Bunny Boilers will continue to call and may even wait for hours outside your home or office trying to see you, even though you have made it clear that it was just a one night stand. Bunny Boilers take the fun out of shagging."