ill-tempered
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
If your mom is ill-tempered, she's cranky, or in a really bad mood. It's probably smarter to ask your cheerful grandma for a ride to school, instead of your ill-tempered mom. Whenever you find yourself in an irritable, grouchy mood, you're ill-tempered. A really good kindergarten teacher will save his ill-tempered remarks for when he goes home after school, and an ill-tempered high school volleyball coach may end up with players quitting the team. Everyone's ill-tempered from time to time — the word combines ill, "bad," and tempered, from temper, or "mood," from the Latin root temperare, "be moderate."
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.
Ruskin’s ill-tempered insistence that drawing is an exercise of virtue was alien to Church’s character, but the same conjunction of extreme naturalism and a sort of vague pantheism is always present.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
But the no-nonsense judge presiding over these often ill-tempered proceedings is desperate to stop them turning into a "public inquiry".
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2026
In the Dodgers’ World Series run last season, Treinen was as vicious as an ill-tempered Doberman, going 2-0 with three saves, a 2.19 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025
For starters, this contest has been – to put it mildly – ill-tempered.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2024
"I swear the boy planned the whole thing. Gregor has always favored huge, ill-tempered stal-lions with more spirit than sense."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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