Translation guide
The English word 'temper' has several distinct meanings: a person's tendency to become angry, a state of anger, the act of moderating or softening something, and the hardness or resilience of a material. This guide helps learners express these concepts naturally in Japanese.
Describing someone's general disposition toward anger, such as having a 'bad temper' or 'quick temper'.
He has a short temper.
a quick-tempered personality
An idiomatic phrase meaning 'to be short-tempered'. Literally 'one's spirit is short'.
My father is short-tempered.
An adjective meaning 'easily angered' or 'quick to anger'. The suffix 〜っぽい indicates a tendency.
She is quick to anger.
A noun meaning 'a person with a bad temper' or 'someone prone to fits of rage'. Often used for children or in a critical way.
That child has a terrible temper.
Referring to a temporary fit of anger, such as 'losing one's temper' or 'in a temper'.
The basic verb 'to get angry'. Use with adverbs to describe intensity.
A colloquial verb meaning 'to snap' or 'lose one's temper suddenly'. Often used for explosive anger.
A phrase meaning 'to throw a tantrum' or 'have a fit of temper'. Often used for children or adults acting childishly.
Literally 'to raise one's belly', meaning 'to get angry' or 'take offense'. Slightly more formal than 怒る.
The verb 'to temper' meaning to moderate, mitigate, or make less severe, as in 'temper justice with mercy'.
Transitive verb meaning 'to soften', 'to moderate', or 'to ease'. Used for abstract things like criticism, anger, or conditions.
to temper one's criticism
Suru-verb meaning 'to alleviate', 'to mitigate', or 'to ease'. Often used for policies, restrictions, or tensions.
to temper regulations
Suru-verb meaning 'to adjust', 'to moderate', or 'to do in moderation'. Can imply tempering strength or intensity.
to temper one's words
The technical process of heating and cooling metal or glass to increase toughness, as in 'tempered steel'.
Noun meaning 'quenching' or 'tempering' (of metal). The process of heating and rapid cooling to harden.
tempering of steel
Noun meaning 'tempering' (reheating after quenching to reduce brittleness). Often used together with 焼き入れ.
Verb phrase literally 'to apply heat', meaning 'to temper' or 'to harden' a blade. Also used figuratively for disciplining someone.
English often uses 'temper' as a noun ('He has a temper'), but Japanese usually expresses this with adjectives or verbs. Avoid direct translations like 気性 (きしょう) or 気質 (かたぎ) unless in very formal contexts.
短気 (たんき) describes a personality trait, while 怒りっぽい (おこりっぽい) focuses on the tendency to get angry easily. 短気 is more common for describing someone's nature.
He lost his temper.
Natural expression for sudden anger
She has a bad temper.
Temper justice with mercy.
Formal; 加味する means 'to temper with' or 'season with'
She lost her temper and got angry.
He finally lost his temper.
The child threw a tantrum.
He got angry at those words.
to temper one's anger
焼き入れと焼き戻し
quenching and tempering
to temper a sword