English Meaning & Definitions
Tending to become angry very quickly or easily; easily provoked or irritable.
- “He is notoriously short tempered in the mornings before he has had his coffee.”
- “Her boss was particularly short tempered today due to the looming project deadline.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “short tempered”.
The term combines 'short,' used here in the figurative sense of being deficient or lacking (as in 'short of patience'), with 'tempered,' derived from the noun 'temper' (referring to a person's state of mind or disposition, ultimately from Latin 'temperare' meaning to restrain or moderate). A 'short temper' denotes a disposition where the mental restraint is easily exhausted, leading to quick anger.
Think of someone with a very 'short' fuse on their 'temper' dynamite—it blows up instantly.
Frequently Asked Questions About “short tempered”
1. What is the meaning of “short tempered” in English?
In English, short tempered (adjective) is defined as: “Tending to become angry very quickly or easily; easily provoked or irritable.”.
2. How do you use “short tempered” in a sentence?
“He is notoriously short tempered in the mornings before he has had his coffee.”
3. What are English synonyms of “short tempered”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “short tempered”?
The term combines 'short,' used here in the figurative sense of being deficient or lacking (as in 'short of patience'), with 'tempered,' derived from the noun 'temper' (referring to a person's state of mind or disposition, ultimately from Latin 'temperare' meaning to restrain or moderate). A 'short temper' denotes a disposition where the mental restraint is easily exhausted, leading to quick anger.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.