What does tempered mean?
Definitions for tempered
ˈtɛm pərdtem·pered
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word tempered.
Princeton's WordNet
tempered, treated, hardened, toughenedadjective
made hard or flexible or resilient especially by heat treatment
"a sword of tempered steel"; "tempered glass"
temperedadjective
adjusted or attuned by adding a counterbalancing element
"criticism tempered with kindly sympathy"
Wiktionary
temperedadjective
Of one's disposition.
The Pyncheon Elm, throughout its great circumference, was all alive, and full of the morning sun and a sweet-tempered little breeze, which lingered within this verdant sphere, and set a thousand leafy tongues a-whispering all at once. This aged tree appeared to have suffered nothing from the gale. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, Chapter 19.
temperedadjective
Pertaining to the metallurgical process for finishing metals.
1851 "Not forged!" and snatching Perth's levelled iron from the crotch, Ahab held it out, exclaiming -- "Look ye, Nantucketer; here in this hand I hold his death! Tempered in blood, and tempered by lightning are these barbs; and I swear to temper them triply in that hot place behind the fin, where the white whale most feels his accursed life!" Herman Melville, Moby Dick.
temperedadjective
Of something moderated or balanced by other considerations.
1792 The downcast eye, the rosy blush, the retiring grace, are all proper in their season; but modesty, being the child of reason, cannot long exist with the sensibility that is not tempered by reflection Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
temperedadjective
Pertaining to the well-tempered scale, where the twelve notes per octave of the standard keyboard are tuned in such a way that it is possible to play music in any major or minor key and it will not sound perceptibly out of tune.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Temperedadjective
Disposed with regard to the passions.
Etymology: from temper.
When was my lord so much ungently tempered,
To stop his ears against admonishment? William Shakespeare.
ChatGPT
tempered
Tempered generally refers to a process applied to improve the strength and durability of a material, often metal or glass, by heating and then cooling it. It can also describe something that is moderated, restrained, or made less extreme in some way. In a psychological context, it can refer to a person who is calm, composed, and self-controlled, not easily provoked to anger.
Webster Dictionary
Tempered
of Temper
Temperedadjective
brought to a proper temper; as, tempered steel; having (such) a temper; -- chiefly used in composition; as, a good-tempered or bad-tempered man; a well-tempered sword
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1563","2"],["1568","2"],["1579","2"],["1581","9"],["1587","8"],["1590","7"],["1593","1"],["1607","6"],["1620","2"],["1621","1"],["1623","2"],["1626","1"],["1630","1"],["1635","2"],["1637","1"],["1638","1"],["1643","1"],["1644","2"],["1645","2"],["1647","1"],["1648","1"],["1649","1"],["1653","1"],["1655","2"],["1656","1"],["1657","3"],["1658","6"],["1659","2"],["1660","3"],["1661","1"],["1663","2"],["1664","3"],["1665","11"],["1667","6"],["1668","5"],["1669","3"],["1673","3"],["1675","6"],["1676","9"],["1677","2"],["1678","1"],["1679","10"],["1680","5"],["1681","17"],["1682","10"],["1683","25"],["1685","9"],["1686","5"],["1688","9"],["1689","3"],["1690","1"],["1691","1"],["1692","4"],["1693","7"],["1694","7"],["1695","1"],["1696","3"],["1698","19"],["1699","3"],["1700","15"],["1701","9"],["1702","7"],["1703","20"],["1704","11"],["1705","14"],["1706","8"],["1707","14"],["1708","13"],["1709","8"],["1710","10"],["1711","10"],["1712","11"],["1713","5"],["1714","8"],["1715","18"],["1716","46"],["1717","10"],["1718","4"],["1719","7"],["1720","23"],["1721","17"],["1722","29"],["1723","20"],["1724","44"],["1725","38"],["1726","22"],["1727","33"],["1728","17"],["1729","50"],["1730","33"],["1731","26"],["1732","25"],["1733","13"],["1734","24"],["1735","26"],["1736","14"],["1737","22"],["1738","38"],["1739","29"],["1740","24"],["1741","45"],["1742","28"],["1743","26"],["1744","42"],["1745","39"],["1746","12"],["1747","55"],["1748","40"],["1749","270"],["1750","59"],["1751","70"],["1752","60"],["1753","111"],["1754","82"],["1755","69"],["1756","30"],["1757","79"],["1758","108"],["1759","74"],["1760","64"],["1761","92"],["1762","74"],["1763","103"],["1764","77"],["1765","59"],["1766","157"],["1767","81"],["1768","98"],["1769","96"],["1770","119"],["1771","88"],["1772","63"],["1773","64"],["1774","112"],["1775","109"],["1776","155"],["1777","145"],["1778","66"],["1779","91"],["1780","87"],["1781","109"],["1782","104"],["1783","116"],["1784","111"],["1785","128"],["1786","124"],["1787","208"],["1788","238"],["1789","276"],["1790","267"],["1791","212"],["1792","298"],["1793","162"],["1794","285"],["1795","253"],["1796","275"],["1797","248"],["1798","250"],["1799","333"],["1800","335"],["1801","530"],["1802","506"],["1803","617"],["1804","680"],["1805","581"],["1806","691"],["1807","823"],["1808","696"],["1809","859"],["1810","733"],["1811","1116"],["1812","760"],["1813","691"],["1814","691"],["1815","766"],["1816","761"],["1817","952"],["1818","960"],["1819","993"],["1820","1283"],["1821","1028"],["1822","1777"],["1823","1430"],["1824","1724"],["1825","1870"],["1826","1480"],["1827","1363"],["1828","1419"],["1829","1431"],["1830","1826"],["1831","1750"],["1832","1683"],["1833","1690"],["1834","1627"],["1835","2125"],["1836","2115"],["1837","1700"],["1838","1682"],["1839","2534"],["1840","2111"],["1841","2020"],["1842","1448"],["1843","2186"],["1844","2371"],["1845","2446"],["1846","2408"],["1847","2338"],["1848","2428"],["1849","2732"],["1850","3024"],["1851","2890"],["1852","3090"],["1853","3528"],["1854","3800"],["1855","3088"],["1856","3683"],["1857","3221"],["1858","2746"],["1859","3464"],["1860","3524"],["1861","2835"],["1862","2289"],["1863","2534"],["1864","2918"],["1865","2808"],["1866","3165"],["1867","2947"],["1868","3265"],["1869","3400"],["1870","2958"],["1871","3149"],["1872","3687"],["1873","3621"],["1874","3833"],["1875","3982"],["1876","4183"],["1877","3650"],["1878","3645"],["1879","3799"],["1880","5369"],["1881","4418"],["1882","5024"],["1883","5889"],["1884","5156"],["1885","5225"],["1886","4183"],["1887","4963"],["1888","4938"],["1889","4243"],["1890","4817"],["1891","5188"],["1892","5746"],["1893","5469"],["1894","5568"],["1895","5638"],["1896","6220"],["1897","6092"],["1898","6966"],["1899","7887"],["1900","8727"],["1901","8127"],["1902","7754"],["1903","7722"],["1904","8249"],["1905","8078"],["1906","8287"],["1907","8285"],["1908","8566"],["1909","7321"],["1910","7906"],["1911","7588"],["1912","8204"],["1913","7212"],["1914","6929"],["1915","6115"],["1916","6106"],["1917","5772"],["1918","5538"],["1919","6101"],["1920","7684"],["1921","6811"],["1922","7474"],["1923","6822"],["1924","6045"],["1925","6411"],["1926","6132"],["1927","7054"],["1928","6815"],["1929","6675"],["1930","7478"],["1931","7110"],["1932","6641"],["1933","5509"],["1934","6008"],["1935","7342"],["1936","6790"],["1937","6960"],["1938","6480"],["1939","8780"],["1940","6865"],["1941","5704"],["1942","5864"],["1943","5173"],["1944","4391"],["1945","5496"],["1946","6980"],["1947","8041"],["1948","8626"],["1949","9777"],["1950","8666"],["1951","9930"],["1952","9314"],["1953","8801"],["1954","10650"],["1955","9263"],["1956","9325"],["1957","9502"],["1958","9731"],["1959","10809"],["1960","11821"],["1961","12851"],["1962","14462"],["1963","15115"],["1964","14525"],["1965","16071"],["1966","17278"],["1967","17445"],["1968","19373"],["1969","19312"],["1970","20418"],["1971","19820"],["1972","19531"],["1973","17974"],["1974","19334"],["1975","18981"],["1976","18904"],["1977","20024"],["1978","19945"],["1979","20107"],["1980","22617"],["1981","21070"],["1982","22044"],["1983","22856"],["1984","23339"],["1985","24086"],["1986","25195"],["1987","25029"],["1988","27213"],["1989","27790"],["1990","28919"],["1991","29297"],["1992","30726"],["1993","31081"],["1994","32911"],["1995","33687"],["1996","34520"],["1997","35545"],["1998","36516"],["1999","40182"],["2000","43846"],["2001","44205"],["2002","46820"],["2003","52665"],["2004","58204"],["2005","54948"],["2006","61136"],["2007","67206"],["2008","98528"]]
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of tempered in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of tempered in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of tempered in a Sentence
While we still have time before the spring, new detachments will be able to receive military training, we expect mobilization to yield at least five additional brigades five motorized brigades, one artillery brigade and a tank brigade. The Ukrainian rearguard for the Debaltseve front in Artemivsk, the home of one of the country's best-selling sparkling wines, looks increasingly like a garrison town. Auto-mechanics and tire shops have seen a sharp pick-up in business repairing damaged vehicles brought in by soldiers. Abandoned Soviet-era plants have been converted into bases. The local stadium is used as a landing pad for helicopters ferrying out the wounded. Many troops are nervous, jumpy and ill-tempered. On Wednesday, a group of irregulars detained a group of international journalists in the center and threatened to escort them out of the town if they took pictures of military equipment. The cannonades are fainter in Artemivsk, but they can still be heard. The significance of that is lost on few.
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today, at home and around the world
[ Avenatti ] is hot tempered and used to having Michael Avenatti way – when Michael Avenatti does n’t Michael Avenatti gets extremely loud and verbally aggressive.
I have matured. I'm tempered. I'm wiser. But I'm still the same guy President Donald Trump on Wednesday know yearning to serve President Donald Trump on Wednesday every chance I get, michael Grimm always goes the distance.
When the habitually even-tempered suddenly fly into a passion, that explosion is apt to be more impressive than the outburst of the most violent amongst us.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for tempered
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for tempered »
Translation
Find a translation for the tempered definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"tempered." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 22 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/tempered>.
Discuss these tempered definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In