temper
a particular state of mind or feelings.
habit of mind, especially with respect to irritability or patience, outbursts of anger, or the like; disposition: an even temper.
heat of mind or passion, shown in outbursts of anger, resentment, etc.
calm disposition or state of mind: to be out of temper.
a substance added to something to modify its properties or qualities.
Metallurgy.
the degree of hardness and strength imparted to a metal, as by quenching, heat treatment, or cold working.
the percentage of carbon in tool steel.
the operation of tempering.
Archaic. a middle course; compromise.
Obsolete. the constitution or character of a substance.
to moderate or mitigate: to temper justice with mercy.
to soften or tone down.
to bring to a proper, suitable, or desirable state by or as by blending or admixture.
to moisten, mix, and work up into proper consistency, as clay or mortar.
Metallurgy. to impart strength or toughness to (steel or cast iron) by heating and cooling.
to produce internal stresses in (glass) by sudden cooling from low red heat; toughen.
to tune (a keyboard instrument, as a piano, organ, or harpsichord) so as to make the tones available in different keys or tonalities.
to modify (color) by mixing with a medium.
Archaic. to combine or blend in due proportions.
Archaic. to pacify.
to be or become tempered.
Origin of temper
1synonym study For temper
Other words for temper
| 1 | cheer, frame of mind, humor; attitude, inclination, outlook, perspective, point of view |
| 2 | disposition, grain, habit, makeup, nature, spirit, temperament |
| 3 | annoyance, crossness, irritability, irritation, petulance, resentment, crabbiness, irascibility, peevishness, snappishness |
| 4 | coolness, equanimity, composure |
Other words from temper
- tem·per·a·ble, adjective
- tem·per·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- tem·per·er, noun
- non·tem·per·a·ble, adjective
- re·tem·per, verb (used with object)
- un·tem·per·a·ble, adjective
- un·tem·per·ing, adjective
Words Nearby temper
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use temper in a sentence
He could be moody and irritable in the best of times, but now it was ratcheted up to new levels of intensity, and it seemed like I was often bearing the brunt of his foul temper.
JaMarcus had always been slow to anger, but DeArthur noticed he was developing a temper.
For Years, JaMarcus Crews Tried to Get a New Kidney, but Corporate Healthcare Stood in the Way | by Lizzie Presser | December 15, 2020 | ProPublicaIt felt like really bad parenting — your child threw a temper tantrum and you gave him the cake just to shut him up.
He had a temper we couldn’t predict, but in the afternoons, the two of us could spend hours exploring the world inside his parking lot.
I can’t rationalize as much as I want to why I was a yeller or continue to have a bad temper.
Momofuku’s David Chang on the big changes the restaurant industry needs to make to survive | Beth Kowitt | September 14, 2020 | Fortune
“When I was a kid I used to have temper tantrums on the basketball court,” he says.
Dean Baquet, the NYT’s Executive Editor, on Jill Abramson, Race, Surviving Cancer—and TMZ Envy | Lloyd Grove | September 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“I have an unfortunate temper that flares up not too often, thank God,” Baquet says.
Dean Baquet, the NYT’s Executive Editor, on Jill Abramson, Race, Surviving Cancer—and TMZ Envy | Lloyd Grove | September 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe is said to have received a warning from the overall al Qaeda organization to temper his videos.
From ISIS Videos to JLaw Nudes, When Is Looking Abetting Evil? | Michael Daly | September 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAny argument I try to hold comes tumbling out in the form of a whiny temper tantrum.
Again, the Israeli temper is hot and quick, sometimes reason becomes blinded and emotions take control.
The Marshals were inclined to attribute their disgrace to the ill-will of Berthier and not to the temper of Napoleon.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonBut he marred it all by a temper so ungovernable that in Paris there was current a byword, "Explosive as Garnache."
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniIf any one has lost his temper, as well as his money, he takes good care not to show it; to do so here would be indeed bad form.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsVictor was the younger son and brother—a tete montee, with a temper which invited violence and a will which no ax could break.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinAll these exhibitions of temper and anger result from what I have pointed out to your Majesty in many other letters.
British Dictionary definitions for temper
/ (ˈtɛmpə) /
a frame of mind; mood or humour: a good temper
a sudden outburst of anger; tantrum
a tendency to exhibit uncontrolled anger; irritability
a mental condition of moderation and calm (esp in the phrases keep one's temper, lose one's temper, out of temper)
the degree of hardness, elasticity, or a similar property of a metal or metal object
to make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else; moderate: he tempered his criticism with kindly sympathy
to strengthen or toughen (a metal or metal article) by heat treatment, as by heating and quenching
Origin of temper
1Derived forms of temper
- temperable, adjective
- temperability, noun
- temperer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with temper
see hold one's temper; lose one's temper.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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