storm brewing
Conflict slowly building
A storm brewing describes weather conditions building toward a storm—dark clouds gathering, pressure dropping, wind picking up.
The phrase almost always appears figuratively: trouble developing that hasn't yet erupted.
There's a storm brewing between those two.
I could sense a storm brewing in the boardroom.
The literal and figurative share the quality of ominous anticipation.
- tempestViolent windstorm or turmoil
- thunderStorm's acoustic aftermath
- thunder and lightningStorm's sound and light
- cloudsAirborne water masses
- darkeningGrowing less bright
dark clouds · rolling in · tension · gathering · ominous · rumble · lightning · on the horizon · horizon · foreboding · trouble · warning · warning signs · looming · turbulent · squall · menacing · pressure
- Weather Changeswarming, cooling, clearing, cold front, warm front
- Weather Idiomsunder the weather, when it rains it pours, come rain or shine, rain check, take a rain check
- conflictclash, fight, war, battle, dispute
- omensomens, omen, portent, portents, signs
- metaphorsbroken heart, dead metaphor, mixed metaphor, time is money, extended metaphor
storm brewingclear skies
Absence of cloud cover
fair weather · calm · sunny skies · blue skies · cloudless
storm brewingsmooth sailing
Untroubled progress forward
all clear · peace and quiet · all is well · clear sailing · coast is clear
storm brewingall is well
Reassurance of normalcy
good vibes · reconciliation · getting along · making amends · warmth
storm, brewing, storms, stormy, stormier, stormiest, storminess, stormed, storming