# taper vs temper

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### taper
*noun · IPA /ˈteɪpə/ · frequency rank #19,713*
A slender wax candle.

### temper
*noun · IPA /ˈtɛmpə/ · frequency rank #9,551*
A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taper-vs-temper