tempered

[ tem-perd ]
See synonyms for tempered on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. having a temper or disposition of a specified character (usually used in combination): a good-tempered child.

  2. Music. tuned in accordance with some other temperament than just or pure temperament, especially tuned in equal temperament.

  1. made less intense or violent, especially by the influence of something good or benign: justice tempered with mercy.

  2. properly moistened or mixed, as clay.

  3. Metallurgy. of or relating to steel or cast iron that has been tempered.

Origin of tempered

1
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at temper, -ed2, -ed3

Other words from tempered

  • non·tem·pered, adjective
  • un·tem·pered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tempered in a sentence

  • He describes them as building a wall and then putting some untempered stuff, a whitewash, upon the wall.

    The Prophet Ezekiel | Arno C. Gaebelein
  • Kerk's attitude was completely emotional, untempered by the slightest touch of logic.

    Deathworld | Harry Harrison
  • The wind was pitiless, untempered even by the shelter of a tree or barn.

    Europe from a Motor Car | Russell Richardson
  • The raw, untempered glare of the sun was giving place to a limitless pour of silvery moonlight.

    Brand Blotters | William MacLeod Raine
  • She had also, with the untempered candour of eighteen, suggested to Fay that she should cease to make a slave of Magdalen.

    Prisoners | Mary Cholmondeley

British Dictionary definitions for tempered

tempered

/ (ˈtɛmpəd) /


adjective
  1. music

    • (of a scale) having the frequency differences between notes adjusted in accordance with the system of equal temperament: See temperament

    • (of an interval) expanded or contracted from the state of being pure

  2. (in combination) having a temper or temperament as specified: ill-tempered

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