expression
irritable; short-tempered; easily angered
Describes a person who is quick to anger or easily irritated. Often used to characterize someone's temperament.
彼は癇の強い性格で、すぐに怒ってしまう。
He has an irritable personality and gets angry quickly.
癇の強い上司に意見するのは難しい。
It's difficult to give an opinion to a short-tempered boss.
短気 is a noun or na-adjective meaning 'short temper' or 'quick-tempered', while 癇の強い is an i-adjective expression specifically describing an irritable disposition.
気難しい means 'hard to please' or 'moody', focusing on being difficult to deal with, whereas 癇の強い emphasizes a tendency to become angry easily.
The expression combines 癇 (かん, 'temper' or 'irritability') with the i-adjective 強い (つよい, 'strong'), literally meaning 'strong-tempered'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it is a conventional phrase in modern Japanese.