tempestuous

adjective

tem·​pes·​tu·​ous tem-ˈpes-chə-wəs 

-ˈpesh-

: of, relating to, or resembling a tempest : turbulent, stormy

tempestuous weather

a tempestuous relationship

tempestuously adverb

tempestuousness noun

Did you know?

Time is sometimes marked in seasons, and seasons are associated with the weather. This explains how tempestās—a Latin word for "time," "season," and "weather"—gave rise to tempestuous, an English adjective for things turbulent and stormy.

Synonyms

• bang-bang
• blood-and-guts
• convulsive
• cyclonic
• explosive
• ferocious
• fierce
• furious
• hammer-and-tongs
• hot
• knock-down, drag-out
• knock-down-and-drag-out
• paroxysmal
• rabid
• rough
• stormy
• tumultuous
• turbulent
• violent
• volcanic

Examples of tempestuous in a Sentence

order was restored to the court after the judge put a stop to the defendant's tempestuous outburst

in terms of social change, the 1960s are generally considered the most tempestuous decade in recent American history

Recent Examples on the Web

Some have speculated Trump might use his second term as president to help mend the deep divisions he’s created over the last tempestuous decade. —Mark Z. Barabak, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024

But unlike Joffrey, whose tempestuous tyranny was purely for his own amusement, Aegon makes decisions this season that at least start out from a place of understandable hurt, and Glynn-Carney walks a thin line between capturing the character’s agony and being absurdly funny. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 June 2024

Each one was found after washing up on shore, broken off an actual ship destroyed by storms and the tempestuous sea. —Lois Alter Mark, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024

Her thorny resilience is a rare thing in popular music, and her stories, tempestuous and explicit, have a mythic weight. —Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English tempestuous, Latinization of tempestous, borrowed from Anglo-French, re-formation of Late Latin tempestuōsus, from tempestu-, probably extracted from Latin tempestūt-, tempestūs, archaic variant of tempestāt-, tempestās "stretch of time, season, weather, tempest entry 1" + -ōsus -ous

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

tempestuous

adjective

tem·​pes·​tu·​ous tem-ˈpes-chə-wəs 

-ˈpesh-

: violent sense 1, stormy

a tempestuous sea

a tempestuous relationship

tempestuously adverb

tempestuousness noun