adjective
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of or relating to a tempest
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violent or stormy
a tempestuous love affair
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of tempestuous
First recorded in 1500–10; from Late Latin tempestuōsus, derivative of tempestus, variant of tempestās tempest ( see -ous); replacing earlier tempeste(u)ous, tempestious ( see -eous, -ious)
Explanation
A tempest is a storm, so you can use the adjective tempestuous to describe anything stormy or volatile — from a tempestuous hurricane to a tempestuous romance. The adjective tempestuous can describe violent weather, but it can also figuratively describe something that just has the characteristics of such blustery and turbulent weather. People could be described as tempestuous if they're prone to violent mood swings and fits of passion. Impetuous is a synonym. The author Joseph Conrad once wrote, "To have his path made clear for him is the aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous existence."
Vocabulary lists containing tempestuous
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"The Banana Tree" by James Berry
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tempestuous and impulsive by nature, she made headlines again in 2006, when, at age 79, she announced that she would marry a man 34 years her junior.
From Reuters • Jan. 16, 2023
Tempestuous £95,000-a-week striker Craig Bellamy, who turns 31 this week, has told he can leave by Manchester City.
From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2010
Tempestuous yells greeted this sentence and the vituperative orgy of insults was resumed with maximum lung power.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tempestuous Gerald Patterson and bandy-legged little Pat O'Hara Wood, both of Australia, battered their way past France to the challenge round of 1924 Davis Cup play.*
From Time Magazine Archive
Tempestuous are the winds that buffet and will, as the days go by, fiercely assail the very structure of the Order through the agency of which this twofold task is being performed.
From Messages to America by Shoghi Effendi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
