temper

The word “temper” means a person's tendency to become angry, or a fit of anger itself. In plain terms, either your tendency to get angry (a "bad temper"), your general mood, or — as a verb — to soften or toughen something.

“Temper” is pronounced TEHM-puh (/ˈtɛmpɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “temper” used in a sentence: “He has a bad temper when things don't go his way.”

Depending on how it is used, “temper” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “temper” comes from Latin. From Old English temprian, borrowed from Latin temperō, "to mix in due proportion, moderate." Related to "temperature" and "temporal.".

“Temper” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Temper” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a person's tendency to become angry, or a fit of anger itself.

Temper refers to a person's general tendency to become angry or to a specific outburst of anger, while anger itself is the emotion. You might say someone "has a temper" as a trait, or "lost their temper" to describe a single angry episode.

To temper something means to moderate or soften it so it becomes less extreme or harsh, such as tempering criticism with encouragement. This figurative sense comes from the technical meaning of controlling heat to adjust the strength of metal or glass.

Both processes use controlled heating and cooling to toughen the material, but tempered glass is typically heated then rapidly cooled to make it shatter-resistant, while tempered metal is heated and cooled in stages to adjust hardness and flexibility. In everyday use, "temper" simply describes this general toughening technique.