Meanings
comparative more short-tempered · superlative most short-tempered
- Easily angered; frequently losing one's temper.
She is so short-tempered that people avoid her company.
Synonyms: quick-tempered, hotheaded · Antonyms: cool-headed, even-tempered, cool
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveEasily angered; frequently losing one's temper.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivequickly aroused to anger
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
By surface analysis, short temper + -ed.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὀξύθυμος
- ὀξύθυμος (oxúthumos)easily angered
Arabic عَصَبِيّ
- عَصَبِيّ (ʕaṣabiyy)easily angered
Bulgarian сприхав, избухлив
- сприхав (sprihav)easily angered
- избухлив (izbuhliv)easily angered
Chinese Mandarin 易怒
- 易怒 (yìnù)easily angered
Finnish äkkipikainen, lyhytpinnainen
- äkkipikaineneasily angered
- lyhytpinnaineneasily angered
- kärsimätöneasily angered
Irish araiciseach, tobann
- araiciseacheasily angered
- tobanneasily angered
Māori kiriwetiweti, kirikawa
- kiriwetiwetieasily angered
- kirikawaeasily angered
- āritaritaeasily angered
Russian вспыльчивый
- вспыльчивый (vspylʹčivyj)easily angered
Spanish de mecha corta
- de mecha cortaeasily angered
Cite this entry
short-tempered. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short-tempered
“short-tempered.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short-tempered. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “short-tempered,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short-tempered.
Source: short-tempered on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.