What does "temper" mean?
A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.
Temper
/ˈtɛmpɚ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.
- Grammar: temper is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: mood, toughness, abate, act civilly.
- Useful contrasts: impassioned, overdone, anger.
- Usage evidence: My brother-in-law is ready to lose his temper at trifles.
How to use "temper"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "temper" 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 "temper" 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 "temper" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "temper" 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 "temper" 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 "mood" 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 "temper", 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 general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting. countable, uncountable
"to have a good, bad, or calm temper"
- 2 a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger wordnet
- 3 State of mind; mood. countable, uncountable
"Remember with what mild / And gracious temper he both heard and judg’d / Without wrauth or reviling;"
- 4 the elasticity and hardness of a metal object; its ability to absorb considerable energy before cracking wordnet
- 5 A tendency to become angry. countable, uncountable
"to have a hasty temper"
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 a sudden outburst of anger wordnet
- 7 Anger; a fit of anger. countable, uncountable
"an outburst of temper"
- 8 a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling wordnet
- 9 Calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure. countable, uncountable
"to keep one's temper; to lose one's temper; to recover one's temper"
- 10 Constitution of body; the mixture or relative proportion of the four humours: blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"[…] 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."
- 11 Middle state or course; mean; medium. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 12 The state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities. countable, uncountable
"the temper of mortar"
- 13 The heat treatment to which a metal or other material has been subjected; a material that has undergone a particular heat treatment. countable, uncountable
- 14 The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling. countable, uncountable
"the temper of iron or steel"
- 15 Milk of lime, or other substance, employed in the process formerly used to clarify sugar. countable, historical, uncountable
"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, 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."
- 16 A non-plastic material, such as sand, added to clay to prevent shrinkage and cracking during drying or firing; tempering. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To moderate or control.
"Temper your language around children."
- 2 change by restraining or moderating wordnet
- 3 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."
- 4 make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else wordnet
- 5 To adjust the temperature of an ingredient (e.g. eggs or chocolate) gradually so that it remains smooth and pleasing.
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 adjust the pitch (of pianos) wordnet
- 7 To sauté spices in ghee or oil to release essential oils for flavouring a dish in South Asian cuisine.
- 8 harden by reheating and cooling in oil wordnet
- 9 To mix clay, plaster or mortar with water to obtain the proper consistency.
- 10 bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling wordnet
- 11 To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.
- 12 To govern; to manage. Latinism, obsolete
"With which the damned ghosts he governeth, / And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth."
- 13 To combine in due proportions; to constitute; to compose. archaic
"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; […]"
- 14 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. archaic
"Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system."
- 15 To fit together; to adjust; to accommodate. obsolete
"Thy sustenance […] serving to the appetite of the eater, tempered itself to every man's liking."
Antonyms
Example
"My brother-in-law is ready to lose his temper at trifles."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "temper"?
Common synonyms include: mood, toughness, abate, act civilly, adapt, adjust.
How do you use "temper" in a sentence?
My brother-in-law is ready to lose his temper at trifles.
How do you pronounce "temper"?
Pronounced /ˈtɛmpɚ/.
Etymology
From Middle English temperen, tempren, from Old English ġetemprian, temprian, borrowed from Latin temperō (“I divide or proportion duly, I moderate, I regulate; intransitive senses I am moderate, I am temperate”), from tempus (“time, fit season”). Compare also French tempérer. Doublet of tamper. See temporal.