What does tempered mean?

Definitions for tempered
ˈtɛm pərdtem·pered

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word tempered.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. tempered, treated, hardened, toughenedadjective

    made hard or flexible or resilient especially by heat treatment

    "a sword of tempered steel"; "tempered glass"

  2. temperedadjective

    adjusted or attuned by adding a counterbalancing element

    "criticism tempered with kindly sympathy"

Wiktionary

  1. temperedadjective

    Of one's disposition.

    The Pyncheon Elm, throughout its great circumference, was all alive, and full of the morning sun and a sweet-tempered little breeze, which lingered within this verdant sphere, and set a thousand leafy tongues a-whispering all at once. This aged tree appeared to have suffered nothing from the gale. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, Chapter 19.

  2. temperedadjective

    Pertaining to the metallurgical process for finishing metals.

    1851 "Not forged!" and snatching Perth's levelled iron from the crotch, Ahab held it out, exclaiming -- "Look ye, Nantucketer; here in this hand I hold his death! Tempered in blood, and tempered by lightning are these barbs; and I swear to temper them triply in that hot place behind the fin, where the white whale most feels his accursed life!" Herman Melville, Moby Dick.

  3. temperedadjective

    Of something moderated or balanced by other considerations.

    1792 The downcast eye, the rosy blush, the retiring grace, are all proper in their season; but modesty, being the child of reason, cannot long exist with the sensibility that is not tempered by reflection Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

  4. temperedadjective

    Pertaining to the well-tempered scale, where the twelve notes per octave of the standard keyboard are tuned in such a way that it is possible to play music in any major or minor key and it will not sound perceptibly out of tune.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Temperedadjective

    Disposed with regard to the passions.

    Etymology: from temper.

    When was my lord so much ungently tempered,
    To stop his ears against admonishment? William Shakespeare.

ChatGPT

  1. tempered

    Tempered generally refers to a process applied to improve the strength and durability of a material, often metal or glass, by heating and then cooling it. It can also describe something that is moderated, restrained, or made less extreme in some way. In a psychological context, it can refer to a person who is calm, composed, and self-controlled, not easily provoked to anger.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Tempered

    of Temper

  2. Temperedadjective

    brought to a proper temper; as, tempered steel; having (such) a temper; -- chiefly used in composition; as, a good-tempered or bad-tempered man; a well-tempered sword

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of tempered in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of tempered in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of tempered in a Sentence

  1. Paul Roth:

    Leonard Nimoy showed a young, nerdy, bullied me that not only could science be important and valued, but it could literally save entire ships, planets, and galaxies of lives, as I grew up, he taught me that reason could be tempered with humor. That learned adults still had more to learn. That feminism and opposing prejudice was vital. And that there is no age too late to reinvent yourself.

  2. Ralph Waldo Emerson:

    Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.

  3. Cornelius Tacitus:

    He had a certain frankness and generosity, qualities indeed which turn to a man's ruin, unless tempered with discretion.

  4. Mark Linden:

    For parents of children who are born premature or with other medical complications, the joy of a new baby is tempered with worry, the medicalized environment in which the baby is placed in the days and weeks following delivery is unfamiliar and at times frightening for parents.

  5. Wilson Mizner:

    The worst tempered people I have ever met were those who knew that they were wrong.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

tempered#10000#21788#100000

Translations for tempered

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"tempered." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/tempered>.

Discuss these tempered definitions with the community:

1 Comment
  • Jutta Gaiter
    Jutta Gaiter
    this Is for heavy Cream / temperd
    LikeReply4 years ago

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not transmitting or reflecting light or radiant energy; impenetrable to sight
A reassuring
B sought
C opaque
D occasional

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