tempest
Americannoun
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a violent windstorm, especially one with rain, hail, or snow.
-
a violent commotion, disturbance, or tumult.
verb (used with object)
idioms
noun
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literary a violent wind or storm
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a violent commotion, uproar, or disturbance
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tempest
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
Explanation
Shakespeare's The Tempest begins with one — a tempest, or a violent and windy storm. The meaning of tempest has expanded over time to include the idea of anger or fighting. A "tempest in a tea pot" means a passionate fight over something that is in fact fairly trivial. For example, a loud argument about whether to use cloth or paper napkins at Thanksgiving could be considered a "tempest in a tea pot" to some.
Vocabulary lists containing tempest
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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"The Raven"
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The Tempest
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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.
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.
From Barron's • Oct. 25, 2025
But summoning this tempest is something of an act of will.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025
At the time, Guinea was in the midst of a "political tempest", she wrote.
From BBC • Jan. 6, 2025
And selling herself and her hospital to the camera crew, McLendon-Covey turns herself up high, a tempest of real and forced enthusiasm.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 11, 2024
If the sea had been frozen at the height of a tempest, and every storm-tossed wave locked into place, the scene could not have been more jumbled and uneven.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
