boiling frog

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Describes a situation where a problem develops gradually, unnoticed until it's too late.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

mô tả tình huống vấn đề phát triển từ từ, không được chú ý cho đến khi quá muộn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a frog being boiled alive
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The company's financial troubles are a classic case of the boiling frog.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “boiling frog” mean?

Describes a situation where a problem develops gradually, unnoticed until it's too late. Literally: a frog being boiled alive

Is “boiling frog” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.