bad-tempered
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of bad-tempered
First recorded in 1920–25
Explanation
Someone who's bad-tempered is cranky and surly. Your bad-tempered next door neighbor might spend the weekend yelling at kids, "Stay off of my lawn!" Oscar the Grouch is a good example of a bad-tempered Sesame Street character. Bad-tempered people are grouchy by nature, although you can have a bad-tempered day or an unusually bad-tempered reaction to some terrible news or a visit from your least favorite cousin. Your temper is your state of mind or your mood, so to be bad-tempered is to be in a bad mood.
Vocabulary lists containing bad-tempered
Negative Words to Describe People
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"The Legend of the Yakwawiak"
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Angry
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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.
On Wednesday, the usual bad-tempered jibes and angry exchanges witnessed in the political theatre of the weekly Prime Minister's Questions, were replaced by gentle ribbing.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
He chose that particular name because “it conjured up someone old-fashioned and bad-tempered lamenting the state of the world through the window of a London club while clutching his glass of port.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
His election came after an occsionally bad-tempered campaign, with complaints from one of the candidates about party interference in the contest.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2024
In Nigeria, for example, a small and bad-tempered snake called the West African carpet viper is responsible for most of the country's bites.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 23, 2023
It was a bad-tempered animal, despite Roosevelt's best efforts to tame it.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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.
