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temper
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/ˈtempə(r)/ 
| singular | temper |
| plural | tempers |
- 1[countable/uncountable] a tendency to get angry very quickly
That temper of yours is going to get you into trouble.
She should never have married a man with such a violent temper.
have a short temper (=become angry very quickly):He’s not a bad boss, but he has a short temper.
control your temper:Andrew has not yet learned to control his temper.
tempers flare (=people get angry):Tempers flared and things began to get out of control.
tempers fray (=people start to get angry):It was a difficult meeting and tempers got a bit frayed.
Collocations: temper
▪ bad, fiery, foul, nasty, quick, short, violent - 2[singular/uncountable] a particular emotional state or moodin a bad/foul/terrible etc temper:
When Mark turned up he was in a foul temper.
in a good temper:He seems to be in a good temper.
- a.an extremely angry statebe in a temper:
He doesn’t mean what he says when he’s in a temper.
get/fly into a temper:When she refused to help, he flew into a temper.
a fit of temper (=a sudden short period of uncontrolled anger):He stormed out of the room in a fit of temper.
a temper tantrum (=a sudden short period of uncontrolled anger):As a small child he had had violent temper tantrums.
phrases
keep your temper (with)
lose your temper (with)
temper, temper
spoken
This is the British English definition of temper. View American English definition of temper.
Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.
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