ill-tempered, a.
(ˈɪlˈtɛmpəd)
[partly f. ill adv. + tempered, pa. pple. of temper v.; partly parasynth. f. ill temper + -ed2.]
† 1. Having the ‘humours’ or elements badly ‘tempered’ or mixed; having a disordered ‘temper’ or constitution; in an unhealthy condition, distempered; in quot. 1661, unwholesome. Obs.
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 115 When greefe and blood ill temper'd, vexeth him. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 67 The liver [of a hart] is very bad, and ill tempered. 1664 Pepys Diary 28 June, This day put on a half-shirt..it being very hot; and yet so ill-tempered am I grown, that I am afeared I shall catch cold. 1685 tr. Gracian's Courtiers Orac. 135 The Paradox is a proof of an ill-tempered mind. |
2. Having a bad temper; ill-conditioned; morose, cross, peevish. (In first quot. scarcely distinguishable from 1.)
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 116 When I spoke that, I was ill temper'd too. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 64 You cross-grained, ill-tempered, good for nothing whelp. 1849 James Woodman ii, I could trust her well enough, cross and ill-tempered as she is. |
Hence ˌill-ˈtemperedly adv., in an ill-tempered manner; ˌill-ˈtemperedness, the quality or condition of being ill-tempered (in quot. used arch.; cf. sense 1 above).
| 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vi. viii. §11 The ruggedness and ill-temperedness [of a branch]. 1894 E. F. Benson Dodo 302 Remonstrate hastily and ill-temperedly. |