short-tempered

adj

"short-tempered" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“short-tempered” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Easily angered; frequently losing one's temper.

Corpus desk

Index EN-short-tempered · short-tempered · English

short-tempered · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for short-tempered
PropertyValue
Headwordshort-tempered
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “short-tempered” in English

short-temperedranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

short-tempered is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Easily angered; frequently losing one's temper.".

Zero misspellings are on record for short-tempered in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: By surface analysis, short temper + -ed. The correct English form is short-tempered, spelled S-H-O-R-T---T-E-M-P-E-R-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Easily angered; frequently losing one's temper.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how short-tempered appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. She is so short-tempered that people avoid her company.

Etymology

By surface analysis, short temper + -ed.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "short-tempered"?
"short-tempered" is spelled S-H-O-R-T---T-E-M-P-E-R-E-D.
What does "short-tempered" mean?
As an adjective, "short-tempered" means: Easily angered; frequently losing one's temper.
What is the origin of the word "short-tempered"?
By surface analysis, short temper + -ed. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list