tempest

[tem-pist]

noun

1. a violent windstorm, especially one with rain, hail, or snow.

2. a violent commotion, disturbance, or tumult.

verb (used with object)

1. to affect by or as by a tempest; disturb violently.

tempest

/ ˈtɛmpɪst /

noun

1. literary,  a violent wind or storm

2. a violent commotion, uproar, or disturbance

verb

1. poetic,  (tr) to agitate or disturb violently

Word History and Origins

Origin of tempest¹

1200–50; Middle English tempeste < Old French < Vulgar Latin *tempesta, for Latin tempestās season, weather, storm, equivalent to tempes- (variant stem of tempus time) + -tās -ty ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of tempest¹

C13: from Old French tempeste, from Latin tempestās storm, from tempus time

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. tempest in a teacup. teacup.

Example Sentences

Haiti's Civil Protection Agency reported two people died and another was injured Thursday when the tempest triggered a landslide in the west of the island nation.

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But summoning this tempest is something of an act of will.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Minutes later, these new friends cross the threshold into George and Martha’s dissolute tempest.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Isn’t the whole uproar over Mr. Smith’s snooping on senators’ phone records a “tempest and teapot” given he had to follow rules?

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When he finally turned south, however, he met what may have been the fiercest tempest on Lake Superior in more than 60 years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cyclone 
• furor 
• hurricane 
• squall 
• tornado 
• tumult 
• upheaval 
• uproar 
• windstorm