Tempered vs Irascible - What's the difference?
tempered | irascible |
Of one's disposition.
Pertaining to the metallurgical process for finishing metals.
Of something moderated or balanced by other considerations.
(music) 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.
(temper)
Easily provoked to outbursts of anger; irritable.
* 1809 , , Knickerbocker's History of New York , ch. 16:
* 1863 , , Hospital Sketches , ch. 1:
* 1921 , , Four Years , ch. 10:
* 2004 Feb. 29, Daniel Kadlec, "
As adjectives the difference between tempered and irascible
is that tempered is of one's disposition while irascible is easily provoked to outbursts of anger; irritable.As a verb tempered
is (temper).tempered
English
Adjective
(-)- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Synonyms
* See alsoAntonyms
* untemperedVerb
(head)See also
* good-tempered * well-temperedirascible
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- . . . the surly and irascible passions which, like belligerent powers, lie encamped around the heart.
- I am naturally irascible , and if I could have shaken this negative gentleman vigorously, the relief would have been immense.
- . . . a never idle man of great physical strength and extremely irascible —did he not fling a badly baked plum pudding through the window upon Xmas Day?
Why He's Meanspan," Time :
- Alan Greenspan was on an irascible roll last week, first dissing everyone who holds a fixed-rate mortgage — suckers! — and later picking on folks who collect Social Security: Get back to work, Grandma.