hightempered

Hightempered is an adjective used to describe a person who is quick to anger or prone to irritability. It is closely related to terms such as hot-tempered, short-tempered, and irascible, and it often carries a slightly archaic or literary tone in contemporary English.

In modern usage, high-tempered is the more common form when referring to temperament, while hightempered appears mainly in older texts or stylistic writing. The word conveys a sense of volatility in mood rather than a fixed, clinical condition, and it is typically employed to characterize behavior in everyday or literary contexts rather than to diagnose psychology.

Etymologically, the term is a compound of high (in the sense of great or intense) and tempered (from temper, mood, or disposition). The one-word spelling hightempered reflects older orthography, whereas current practice favors hyphenation or separation into two words.

Usage notes: hightempered can imply a stronger or more abrasive temper than milder descriptors, and it is often used descriptively about a person’s conduct in a given situation. As with related terms, it should be employed with care to avoid pejorative labeling or stereotyping.

See also: hot-tempered, short-tempered, irascible, temper, temperament.