tempestuous

/tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/

//tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tempestuous" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tempestuous” is uncommon English (frequency #53,906 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,906
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tempestuous · tempestuous · English

tempestuous · rank #53,906 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,906
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH telemarketing

Nearest frequency peer: telemarketing (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “tempestuous”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “tempestuous” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tempestuous
PropertyValue
Headwordtempestuous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#53,906
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tempestuous” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).tempestuousfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “telemarketing” (#53,905), “tempura” (#53,907), “tearfully” (#53,903). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tempestuous” is #53,906. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tempestuous is uncommon English at frequency #53,906 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tempestuous, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English tempestious, tempestous, tempestuous (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous”), from Anglo-Norman tempestous, and Old French tempesteus, tempestos, tempestous, tempestuose (modern French tempétueux), and directly from its etymon Latin temp… The correct English form is tempestuous, spelled T-E-M-P-E-S-T-U-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy.
  2. 2
    Characterized by disorderly, frenetic, or violent activity; stormy, tumultuous, turbulent; also, of a person, their behaviour or nature, etc.: characterized by bouts of bad temper or sudden changes of mood; impetuous, stormy, temperamental.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I wyl aduertise you that this Boke is named the Shyp of foles of the worlde: For this worlde is nought els but a tempestous se in the whiche we dayly wander and are caste in dyuers tribulacions paynes and aduersitees: some by ignoraunce and some by wilfulnes: wherfore such doers ar worthy to be called foles.
  2. [A] turbulent and tempeſtuous ſtorme aroſe, that encloſed them on everie ſide, ſo that laying aſide all hope, they vvere in utter deſpaire of their life, ſecuritie, or any helpe at all.

Etymology

From Late Middle English tempestious, tempestous, tempestuous (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous”), from Anglo-Norman tempestous, and Old French tempesteus, tempestos, tempestous, tempestuose (modern French tempétueux), and directly from its etymon Latin tempestuōsus (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous; impetuous”), from tempestās, tempestūs (“point or period of time; season; weather, specifically bad weather; storm, tempest”) (from tempus (“period of time; (rare) weather”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- (“to cut”) or *ten- (“to extend, stretch”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is equivalent to tempest + -uous (a variant of -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality, typically in abundance)).

This word in other languages

tempestuoso(Español)tempétueux(Français)stürmisch(Deutsch)tempestuoso(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tempestuous"?
"tempestuous" is spelled T-E-M-P-E-S-T-U-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/.
What does "tempestuous" mean?
As an adjective, "tempestuous" means: Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy.
How do you pronounce "tempestuous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tempestuous" is /tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tempestuous"?
From Late Middle English tempestious, tempestous, tempestuous (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous”), from Anglo-Norman tempestous, and Old French tempesteus, tempestos, tempestous, tempestuose (modern French tempétueux), and directly from its etymon ... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tempestuous", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

undignified#53,932squandering#53,869seasonality#53,843salutations#53,835

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list