temper

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. temperament, nature, disposition; mood, humor, tone; tantrum, passion, rage; mettle, quality; calmness, composure, equanimity. See irascibility, feeling, intrinsic. —v. t. moderate, soften; harden, anneal, toughen. See hardness, softness, change.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [State of mind]

Syn. disposition, temperament, frame of mind, humor; see mood 1 .

2. [An angry state of mind]

Syn. furor, ire, passion; see anger , rage 2 .

3. [The quality of being easily angered]

Syn. impatience, excitability, touchiness, sourness, sensitivity, fretfulness, peevishness, irritability, ill-humor, acerbity, petulence, irascibility, crossness, churlishness, pugnacity, sullenness, tartness, grouchiness*, huffiness*, cantankerousness*.

Ant. patience*, calmness, equanimity.

4. [The quality of induced hardness or toughness in materials]

Syn. tensile strength, sturdiness, hardness; see firmness 2 , strength 1 .

5. [Composure]

Syn. equanimity, poise, tranquility; see composure .

• keep one's temper,

Syn. remain calm, control oneself, compose oneself, not become angry; see restrain 1 .

• lose one's temper,

Syn. become angry, get mad, fly off the handle*, go bananas*; see rage 1 .

See Synonym Study at mood , disposition . v.

1. [To soften or qualify]

Syn. mitigate, pacify, moderate, abate, mollify, curb, restrain; see also ease 1 , 2 , soften 2 .

Ant. attack*, violate injure.

2. [To toughen or harden]

Syn. steel, anneal, braze, bake, chill, stiffen, caseharden, cement, vulcanize, solidify, congeal, indurate, starch, petrify, mold, set, dry, toughen up*; see also strengthen .

Ant. melt, dissolve, soften.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

1. frame of mind mood, disposition, temperament, spirits, humor, attitude, outlook, character.

2. tendency to become angry *short fuse, *hairtrigger temper, *low boiling point, *low critical mass, *hot blood, *hot head, explosive personality, volatility, impatience, irritability, personality, *walking time bomb.

3. anger rage, tantrum, outburst, fury, wrath, rampage, *blowup, storm.

4. composure calmness, equanimity, good humor, sang-froid, coolness.

ANT.: 2. *long fuse, *high boiling point, easygoing personality, cool head. 3. composure, calmness, tranquility

II

v.

1. moderate soften, lessen, tone down, ease, mollify, assuage, dilute, mitigate, relieve, pacify.

2. toughen harden, strengthen, anneal.

ANT.: 1. intensify, harden, increase. 2. soften, weaken

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I verb To make or become less severe or extreme: moderate, mute, qualify, soften, subdue, tame, tone down. See INCREASE. II noun 1. A person's customary manner of emotional response: complexion, disposition, humor, nature, temperament. See BE. 2. A temporary state of mind or feeling: frame of mind, humor, mood, spirit (used in plural), vein. See FEELINGS. 3. A tendency to become angry or irritable: irascibility, irascibleness, spleen, temperament, tetchiness. Informal: dander. Slang: short fuse. Idiom: low boiling point. See FEELINGS. 4. An angry outburst: fit2, huff, passion, tantrum. Informal: conniption, conniption fit. See FEELINGS. 5. A prevailing quality, as of thought, behavior, or attitude: climate, mood, spirit, tone. See ATTITUDE.