What does "distemper" mean?
A viral disease of animals, such as dogs and cats, characterised by fever, coughing and catarrh.
Distemper
noun, verb
noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A viral disease of animals, such as dogs and cats, characterised by fever, coughing and catarrh.
- Grammar: distemper is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abnormality, acute disease, affection, affliction.
- Useful contrasts: calm, composed, cure.
- Usage evidence: He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found the head and source of all your son’s distemper.
How to use "distemper"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "distemper" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "distemper" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "distemper" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "distemper" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "distemper" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abnormality" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "distemper", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A viral disease of animals, such as dogs and cats, characterised by fever, coughing and catarrh. countable, uncountable
- 2 a method of painting in which the pigments are mixed with water and a binder; used for painting posters or murals or stage scenery wordnet
- 3 A disorder of the humours of the body; a disease. archaic, countable, uncountable
"O perplex'd diſcompoſition, O ridling diſtemper, O miſerable condition of Man."
- 4 a painting created with paint that is made by mixing the pigments with water and a binder wordnet
- 5 A glue-based paint. countable, uncountable
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 paint made by mixing the pigments with water and a binder wordnet
- 7 A painting produced with this kind of paint. countable
- 8 an angry and disagreeable mood wordnet
- 9 any of various infectious viral diseases of animals wordnet
Verb
- 1 To temper or mix unduly; to make disproportionate; to change the due proportions of.
- 2 paint with distemper wordnet
- 3 To derange the functions of, whether bodily, mental, or spiritual; to disorder; to disease.
"Guildenstern. The King, sir— Hamlet. Ay, sir, what of him? Guildenstern. Is in his retirement, marvellous distemper’d. Hamlet. With drink, sir? Guildenstern. No, my lord; rather with choler."
- 4 To deprive of temper or moderation; to disturb; to ruffle; to make disaffected, ill-humoured, or malignant.
"1799-1800, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (translator), The Piccolomini by Friedrich Schiller, Boston: Francis A. Niccolls & Co., 1902, p. 37, I have been long accustomed to defend you, To heal and pacify distempered spirits."
- 5 To intoxicate.
"For the Courtiers reeling, And the Duke himselfe, (I dare not say distemperd, But kind, and in his tottering chaire carousing) They doe the countrie service."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To paint using distemper.
"He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own."
- 7 To mix (colours) in the way of distemper.
"to distemper colors with size"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found the head and source of all your son’s distemper."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "distemper"?
Common synonyms include: abnormality, acute disease, affection, affliction, aggravate, ailing.
How do you use "distemper" in a sentence?
He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found the head and source of all your son’s distemper.
Etymology
From Old French destemprer, from Latin distemperare.