tempered

Definition

Adjective:
- Adjusted or moderated by adding a counterbalancing element: Describes something, often a quality or statement, that has been made less extreme or severe by mixing it with something else.
- Made hard, flexible, or resilient, especially by heat treatment: Describes a material, typically metal or glass, that has been treated with heat and/or cooling to improve its physical properties, such as strength or durability.

Examples of Usage

Adjective (Adjusted/Moderated):
- The judge's stern verdict was tempered with mercy.
- Her initial anger was tempered by understanding.
Adjective (Heat-treated):
- For safety, car windows are made from tempered glass.
- The blade was forged from finely tempered steel.

Advanced Usage

"well-tempered": Often used to describe something properly balanced or moderated. In music, it famously refers to a tuning system (e.g., Bach's ).
- He is known for his well-tempered and fair leadership style.
"ill-tempered": A common compound meaning bad-tempered, irritable, or easily angered.
- The ill-tempered debate yielded no useful results.

Variants and Related Words

Temper (verb): The action of moderating or hardening.
- Temper your enthusiasm with a dose of reality.
- Blacksmiths temper steel to make it stronger.
Temper (noun): A person's state of mind, especially regarding anger.
- He has a quick temper.
Temperament (noun): A person's or animal's nature, especially as it permanently affects their behavior.
- She has a calm temperament.

Synonyms

Moderated, mitigated, softened, qualified (for the "adjusted" sense).
Hardened, strengthened, toughened, annealed (for the "heat-treated" sense).

Antonyms

Unmitigated, unalloyed, sheer (for the "adjusted" sense).
Untempered, annealed (in specific technical contexts, annealing is a different heat treatment process that softens metal).

Related Phrases

"Temper justice with mercy": A common phrase and principle meaning to combine fair judgment with compassion.
- The court decided to temper justice with mercy in this unique case.

Adjective

adjusted or attuned by adding a counterbalancing element
- criticism tempered with kindly sympathy
made hard or flexible or resilient especially by heat treatment
- a sword of tempered steel
- tempered glass

Khám phá thêm

Các từ liên quan

Từ đồng nghĩa

Từ trái nghĩa

Từ tương tự

Từ gần giống

Từ chứa "tempered"

Từ có nhắc đến "tempered"

tempered — The blacksmith carefully quenches the tempered steel blade.