adjective
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of or relating to a tempest
-
violent or stormy
a tempestuous love affair
Other Word Forms
- tempestuously adverb
- tempestuousness noun
- untempestuous adjective
- untempestuousness noun
Etymology
Origin of tempestuous
First recorded in 1500–10; from Late Latin tempestuōsus, derivative of tempestus, variant of tempestās tempest ( -ous ); replacing earlier tempeste(u)ous, tempestious ( -eous, -ious )
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.
But the charged particles hurled into space by our tempestuous Sun - the particles that create the aurora borealis - can also unleash very rare but extremely disruptive events here on Earth.
From BBC
The St. George Reef Lighthouse, six miles off the coast of California’s sparsely populated northwest corner, stands atop a sheer rock surrounded by nothing but the cold, tempestuous Pacific.
From Los Angeles Times
Since then, Red Bull have gone through a tempestuous period, including a decline in their competitiveness.
From BBC
But the relationship was tempestuous from the start.
From Los Angeles Times
So in a tempestuous world, UK growth is likely to suffer as we get caught in the crosswinds.
From BBC
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.
