Word.ws English Dictionary

temper

UK/ˈtɛmpə//ˈtɛmpɚ/

temper noun: a general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.

Noun

temper (countable and uncountable, plural tempers)

  1. A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.
    • to have a good, bad, or calm temper
    • A noble temper dost thou show in this;c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  2. State of mind; mood.
    • Remember with what mild / And gracious temper he both heard and judg’d / Without wrauth or reviling;1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • […] I must testify from my Experience, that a Temper of Peace, Thankfulness, Love and Affection, is much more the proper Frame for Prayer than that of Terror and Discomposure;1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 193
  3. A tendency to become angry.
    • Mind your hasty temper!
    • He has quite a temper when dealing with salespeople.
  4. Anger; a fit of anger.
    • an outburst of temper
    • When I heard about it I got myself into a terrible temper.
    Synonyms:
    rage
  5. Calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure.
    • to keep one's temper; to lose one's temper; to recover one's temper
    • Reſtore your ſelues, vnto your temper, Fathers; / And, vvithout perturbation, heare me ſpeake: […]1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act IIII
  6. (obsolete) Constitution of body; the mixture or relative proportion of the four humours: blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy.
    • […] it is hard to say, whether [Christ’s] pain was more shamefull, or his shame more painfull unto him: the exquisiteness of his bodily temper, increasing the exquisiteness of his torment, and the ingenuity of his Soul, adding to his sensibleness of the indignities and affronts offered until him.1650, Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof, London: John Williams, Book 3, Chapter 12, p. 345
  7. Middle state or course; mean; medium.
    • The perfect lawgiver is a just temper between the mere man of theory, who can see nothing but general principles, and the mere man of business, who can see nothing but particular circumstances.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
  8. The state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities.
    • the temper of mortar
  9. The heat treatment to which a metal or other material has been subjected; a material that has undergone a particular heat treatment.
  10. The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling.
    • the temper of iron or steel
    • Between two blades, which bears the better temper: […] / I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgement; / But in these nice sharp quillets of the law, / Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  11. (historical, sugar manufacture) Milk of lime, or other substance, employed in the process formerly used to clarify sugar.
    • All cane juice is liable to rapid fermentation. As soon, therefore, as the clarifier is filled, the fire is lighted, and the temper (white lime of Bristol) is stirred into it. The alkali of the lime having neutralized its superabundant acid, a part of it becomes the basis of the sugar.1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, pp. xciv-xcv
  12. (pottery) A non-plastic material, such as sand, added to clay to prevent shrinkage and cracking during drying or firing; tempering.

Verb

temper (third-person singular simple present tempers, present participle tempering, simple past and past participle tempered)

  1. To moderate or control.
    • Temper your language around children.
    • It is all very well tempering enthusiasm for the Report in most of its particulars, as the thinking press has since the debate, [...].1963 June, “Second thoughts on Beeching”, in Modern Railways, page 361
    Synonyms:
    season
  2. To strengthen or toughen a material, especially metal, by heat treatment; anneal.
    • Tempering is a heat treatment technique applied to metals, alloys, and glass to achieve greater toughness by increasing the strength of materials and/or ductility. Tempering is performed by a controlled reheating of the work piece to a temperature below its lower eutectic critical temperature.
    • The temper'd metals clash, and yield a silver sound.1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  3. To adjust the temperature of an ingredient (e.g. eggs or chocolate) gradually so that it remains smooth and pleasing.
  4. To sauté spices in ghee or oil to release essential oils for flavouring a dish in South Asian cuisine.
  5. To mix clay, plaster or mortar with water to obtain the proper consistency.
  6. To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.
  7. (Latinism, obsolete) To govern; to manage.
    • With which the damned ghosts he governeth, / And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth.1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC
  8. (archaic) To combine in due proportions; to constitute; to compose.
    • You fools! I and my fellows / Are ministers of fate: the elements / Of whom your swords are temper'd may as well / Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs / Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish / One dowle that's in my plume; […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
  9. (archaic) To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage.
    • Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system.
    • 1682 (first performance), Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv'd
      Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee / To temper man: we had been brutes without you.
  10. (obsolete) To fit together; to adjust; to accommodate.
    • Thy sustenance […] serving to the appetite of the eater, tempered itself to every man's liking.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Wisdom of Solomon 16:21

temper meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

temper in Hindi

to temper; slake
बुझाना bujhānā
temper ; edge or sharpness
आब āb

temper in Tamil

கோபம், சினம் கொண்டவர் மனநிலை

temper in Urdu

آب, دم, غصہ, خصلت, مزاج, موافق بنانا

temper in Bengali

মেজাজ, মেজাজ হারানো
More languagesFewer languages
temper in Malayalam
മാനസികനില, ലഘൂകരിക്കുക
temper in Kannada
ಹದ, ಒಲವು, ಸಿಟ್ಟು, ಸಿಡುಕುತನ
temper in Punjabi
ਆਬ āb
temper in Odia
ମନ mana
temper in Tagalog
subo, subuhan
temper in Vietnamese
tôi, luyện, tôi luyện

Examples of temper in a sentence

  • And it was peculiar in their Temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by Rapine or Stealth at a greater diſtance, than much better Food provided for them at home.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Great Love of His Native Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the...
  • […] when she smiled, the Sweetness of her Temper diffused that Glory over her Countenance, which no Regularity of Features can give.1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 2, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew]...
  • I am of a cautious temper, and unwilling to risk my happiness in a hurry.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for...
  • […] Amy smiled without bitterness, for she possessed a happy temper and hopeful spirit.1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 26, in Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with temper

Synonyms of temper

Forms of temper

Noun
pluraltempers
alternative formtempre
Verb
third-person singular presenttempers
present participletempering
past participletempered
pasttempered

Past tense of temper: tempered

Plural of temper: tempers

Origin of temper

From Middle English temperen, tempren, from Old English ġetemprian, temprian, borrowed from Latin temperō (“(transitive) to divide or proportion duly, to moderate, to regulate; (intransitive) to be moderate, temperate”), from tempus (“time, fit season”). Compare also French tempérer. Doublet of tamper. See temporal.

Words formed from temper

Phrases with temper

Words that rhyme with temper

Questions about temper

What does temper mean?
Temper means a general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.
What is temper in Hindi?
Temper in Hindi is बुझाना (bujhānā), आब (āb). See Temper meaning in Hindi.
How do you use temper in a sentence?
And it was peculiar in their Temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by Rapine or Stealth at a greater diſtance, than much better Food provided for them at home.
What part of speech is temper?
Temper can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce temper?
Temper is pronounced /ˈtɛmpə/ (UK).
What is the plural of temper?
The plural of temper is tempers.

Words near temper in the dictionary

  1. temped
  2. tempeh
  3. tempehs
  4. Tempelhof
  5. Tempelhof-Schöneberg
  6. temper
  7. temper foam
  8. temper of the times
  9. temper screw
  10. temper screws
  11. temper tantra

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: temper (page history and authors); आब (Hindi) (page history and authors); temper (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); temper (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Temper (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); temper (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); temper (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਆਬ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ମନ (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-temper.ogg.

Cite this entry: “temper.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/temper. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.