irritable; short-tempered; easily angered
Describes a person who is quick to anger or easily irritated. Often used to characterize someone's temperament.
He has an irritable personality and gets angry quickly.
It's difficult to give an opinion to a short-tempered boss.
Standard kanji spelling for this expression.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji 癇 is considered difficult.
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.