tempestuous
Syllables: tem·pest·u·ous/tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/US/tɛmˈpɛs.tʃu.əs/
tempestuous adjective: of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy.
Adjective
tempestuous (comparative more tempestuous, superlative most tempestuous)
- Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy.
- I wyl aduertise you that this Boke is named the Shyp of foles of the worlde: For this worlde is nought els but a tempestous se in the whiche we dayly wander and are caste in dyuers tribulacions paynes and aduersitees: some by ignoraunce and some by wilfulnes: wherfore such doers ar worthy to be...1509 December 24 (Gregorian calendar), Alexander Barclay, “[The Argument]”, in Sebastian Brant, translated by Alexander Barclay, edited by T[homas] H[ill] Jamieson, The Ship of Fools, volume I...
- [A] turbulent and tempeſtuous ſtorme aroſe, that encloſed them on everie ſide, ſo that laying aſide all hope, they vvere in utter deſpaire of their life, ſecuritie, or any helpe at all.1610, William Camden, “Huntingdonshire”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […]...
- Synonyms:
- breme, nimbose, procellous
- Antonyms:
- untempestuous
- Characterized by disorderly, frenetic, or violent activity; stormy, tumultuous, turbulent; also, of a person, their behaviour or nature, etc.: characterized by bouts of bad temper or sudden changes of mood; impetuous, stormy, temperamental.
- After their tempestuous argument, they did not speak to each other for weeks.
- Yet I confesse in that tempestious hast [i.e., haste], / I said, that I from out thy sight was cast: / But thou didst heare, when I to thee did moane, / Then love the Lord all ye that feele his grace: […]a. 1587 (date written), Philip Sidney, “Psalm XXXI. In te, Domine, speravi.”, in The Psalmes of David […], London: From the Chiswick Press by C[harles] Whittingham, for Robert Triphook, […]...
- Antonyms:
- untempestuous
tempestuous meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Malayalam
tempestuous in Tamil
- கடுங்கொந்தளிப்புடைய
tempestuous in Marathi
- tempestuous, unquiet, ruffled
- अशांत aśānta
tempestuous in Urdu
- طوفانی
tempestuous in Malayalam
- blustery, stormy, squally
- കൊടുങ്കാറ്റടിക്കുന്ന, വിപ്ലുത, പ്രക്ഷുബ്ധമായ, ചണ്ഡവാതമായ, ചണ്ഡവാതമടിക്കുന്ന, കൊടുങ്കാറ്റുള്ള
- stormy, turbulent, tumultuous
- പ്രക്ഷുബ്ധമായ, ഇളകിമറിഞ്ഞ, കുഴപ്പംപിടിച്ച, കാറ്റുംകോളും നിറഞ്ഞ, ക്ഷുബ്ധമായ, തുമുലപൂർണ്ണമായ
- passionate, emotional, impassioned
- വിക്ഷുബ്ധമായ, വികാരാധീനമായ, വെെകാരിക, വികാരപരവശമായ, ആവേശഭരിതമായ, വികാരതീവ്രമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- tempestuous in Kannada
- ಉಲ್ಲೋಲ ಕಲ್ಲೋಲ, ಅಲ್ಲೋಲ ಕಲ್ಲೋಲ, ಪ್ರಚಂಡ ಕ್ಷೋಭೆ, ಪ್ರಕ್ಷುಬ್ಧ
- tempestuous in Tagalog
- masigwá
Examples of tempestuous in a sentence
- A tempeſtuous noiſe of Thunder and Lightning heard: Enter a Ship-maſter, and a Boteſvvaine.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First...
- [T]he Months of March and September, the tvvo Æquinoxes of Our year, are the moſt vvindy and tempeſtuous, the moſt unſettled and unequable of Seaſons in moſt Countries of the VVorld.1692 December 15, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism from the Origin and Frame of the World. The Third and Last Part. […], London...
- But oft the Sea / Tempeſtuous kept them back, and Southern VVinds / Deter'd them.1718, Virgil, “Book the Second”, in Joseph Trapp, transl., The Æneis of Virgil, Translated into Blank Verse, volume I, London: [s.n.]...
- Till nature's King, vvho oft / Amid tempeſtuous darkneſs dvvells alone, / And on the vvings of the careering vvind / VValks dreadfully ſerene, commands a calm; […]1730, James Thomson, “Winter. Inscribed to the Right Honourable the Lord Wilmington.”, in The Seasons, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 200...
Synonyms of tempestuous
Antonyms
Forms of tempestuous
| comparative | more tempestuous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most tempestuous |
| alternative form | tempestous |
Origin of tempestuous
From Late Middle English tempestious, tempestous, tempestuous (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous”), from Anglo-Norman tempestous, and Old French tempesteus, tempestos, tempestous, tempestuose (modern French tempétueux), and directly from its etymon Latin tempestuōsus (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous; impetuous”), from tempestās, tempestūs (“point or period of time; season; weather, specifically bad weather; storm, tempest”) (from tempus (“period of time; (rare) weather”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- (“to cut”) or *ten- (“to extend, stretch”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is equivalent to tempest + -uous (a variant of -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality, typically in abundance)).
Words formed from tempestuous
Questions about tempestuous
- What does tempestuous mean?
- Tempestuous means of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy.
- What is tempestuous in Tamil?
- Tempestuous in Tamil is கடுங்கொந்தளிப்புடைய. See Tempestuous meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use tempestuous in a sentence?
- A tempeſtuous noiſe of Thunder and Lightning heard: Enter a Ship-maſter, and a Boteſvvaine.
- What part of speech is tempestuous?
- Tempestuous is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce tempestuous?
- Tempestuous is pronounced /tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/ (UK).
Words near tempestuous in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tempestuous (page history and authors); tempestuous (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); अशांत (Marathi) (page history and authors); tempestuous (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tempestuous (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); tempestuous (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tempestuous.wav.
Cite this entry: “tempestuous.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tempestuous. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.