Emotions / B2

TEMP-uh/ˈtempə/

Temper is a tendency to become angry, or a short burst of anger: lose your temper; a quick temper. Temperament is someone’s usual mood (already in the dictionary); temperature is heat (already elsewhere). As a verb, temper a claim means make it less extreme. Mix-up: temperament / temperature / temple. Do not write temper for a long-term personality profile.

Meaning

A tendency to become angry, or a short burst of anger; as a verb, to make a claim less extreme.

Examples

• “He lost his temper in the hearing; the minutes still recorded the vote.”
• “Temper the conclusion; the n is twelve, which is the moderate-a-claim sense.”

Good to know

lose / keep your temper; a quick temper; temper a claim. Usual mood: temperament. Trap: temperature. News, orals, and evaluations. Anger, or make less extreme — specify.

Topics

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