bad-tempered
adjective
bad-tem·pered
ˈbad-ˈtem-pərd 
: easily annoyed or angered : having or showing a bad temper : surly, ill-tempered
Bad-tempered drivers banged on the door and left cursing without a fare.—
Deborah Levy
Deborah LevyIt's not a good idea to make a love story about two people who are so self-absorbed, sniveling and bad-tempered that the audience wants them to end up in a dumpster, not living happily ever after. Ralph Novak
Examples of bad-tempered in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Childhood visits to Kenya were a mission in themselves—three days of connecting flights and interminable transits in Athens, Cairo, and Nairobi before arriving, bleary-eyed and bad-tempered, in Mombasa.
—Selina Denman, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Nov. 2024
Moose mothers, having lost a significant portion of their young, can also be bad-tempered by the time June rolls around.
—Jim Geraghty, Washington Post, 20 June 2024
Who among us has not gazed in dismay at a world that’s not just increasingly bad-tempered, but seems to hold against each one of us some focused, individual grudge?
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 9 Oct. 2023
In Nigeria, for example, a small and bad-tempered snake called the West African carpet viper is responsible for most of the country's bites.
—Cassandra Willyard, Scientific American, 19 Sep. 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Selina Denman, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Nov. 2024
Moose mothers, having lost a significant portion of their young, can also be bad-tempered by the time June rolls around.
—Jim Geraghty, Washington Post, 20 June 2024
Who among us has not gazed in dismay at a world that’s not just increasingly bad-tempered, but seems to hold against each one of us some focused, individual grudge?
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 9 Oct. 2023
In Nigeria, for example, a small and bad-tempered snake called the West African carpet viper is responsible for most of the country's bites.
—Cassandra Willyard, Scientific American, 19 Sep. 2023
Dictionary Entries Near bad-tempered
Cite this Entry
“Bad-tempered.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bad-tempered. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share