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'.
A noun or na-adjective meaning 'short temper' or 'quick temper'. Commonly used to describe a person's nature.
An idiomatic phrase meaning 'to be short-tempered'. Literally 'one's spirit is short'.
父は気が短い。
My father is short-tempered.
An adjective meaning 'easily angered' or 'quick to anger'. The suffix 〜っぽい indicates a tendency.
彼女は怒りっぽい。
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.
あの子は癇癪持ちだ。
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.
彼はすぐ怒る。
He gets angry easily.
彼女はかっとなって怒った。
She lost her temper and got angry.
A colloquial verb meaning 'to snap' or 'lose one's temper suddenly'. Often used for explosive anger.
彼はついにキレた。
He finally lost his temper.
A phrase meaning 'to throw a tantrum' or 'have a fit of temper'. Often used for children or adults acting childishly.
子供が癇癪を起こした。
The child threw a tantrum.
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.
Suru-verb meaning 'to alleviate', 'to mitigate', or 'to ease'. Often used for policies, restrictions, or tensions.
規制を緩和する。
to temper regulations
Suru-verb meaning 'to adjust', 'to moderate', or 'to do in moderation'. Can imply tempering strength or intensity.
言葉を加減する。
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.
鋼の焼き入れ
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.
彼女は短気だ。
She has a bad temper.
He got angry at those words.
焼き入れと焼き戻し
quenching and tempering
刀に焼きを入れる。
to temper a sword