HOT-TEMPERED Synonyms: 102 Similar and Opposite Words

hot-tempered

adjective

Definition of hot-tempered

as in antagonistic

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hot-tempered In addition, teens who are dealing with intense emotions that are hard to cope with are often hot-tempered and easily irritated. — Staff Author, Parents, 9 Mar. 2026 What is the strategy for living with someone who is exceedingly hot-tempered? — R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2025 The movie co-stars Albert Finney as an acclaimed and hot-tempered writer named George and Keaton as Faith, the wife and mother of his children, who gave up her own dreams to support him, only to get thrown over for a younger woman (Karen Allen). — Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2025 Robbie is a complicated man, at once incredibly compassionate and deeply self-centered, philosophical and brooding but also impulsive and hot-tempered. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for hot-tempered

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hot-tempered

Adjective

One of the ways Fernandez would display it was by targeting ex-Chelsea players on the pitch, being antagonistic and winding them up, and fans loved him for it.

— Simon Johnson, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Furthermore, a completely antagonistic sect says that there is nothing there at all – no sky-pie, just a solar myth, a fantastic bit of chanciness, etc.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of antagonistic

Adjective

Terrorism wasn’t a completely foreign concept, but the notion of a hostile, coordinated attack on our soil, at that scale, seemed like something that might only happen in a Tom Clancy novel or a summer blockbuster movie.

— Michael Silver, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Now, civil engineer Jishen Qiu and his team wondered if engineers could exploit Mars’s hostile climate, rather than fighting the planet’s extremely low temperature.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of hostile

Adjective

Richard Olenick and Juan Mejia were more than halfway through the flight when a man two rows behind them in the first-class section started to become belligerent, Olenick said.

— Taylor Galgano, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2026
Bailey said the man with the gun was well known in the building for being belligerent and showing off his weapon.

— Ellen Schmidt, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of belligerent

Adjective

In 2005, the Cage was opened by Ross (the Boss) Friedman, a founding member of the pugnacious and seminal punk band the Dictators, stalwarts of the early CBGB scene.

— Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
Though less overtly pugnacious than the other main far-right cabinet member, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, with whom he is often compared, Smotrich has used his time in office to ramp up settlement building.

— Reuters, NBC news, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of pugnacious

Adjective

Earlier in the day, UAE Team Emirates’ Kevin Vermaerke once again made his way into the day’s breakaway, the 25-year-old American having proven himself one of the most combative riders in the race after team leader Tadej Pogačar’s withdrawal.

— Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Suno, which has had a highly combative relationship with the music industry in recent years.

— Jem Aswad, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of combative

Adjective

Volatile, quarrelsome, dogmatic, and sure of his own brilliance, Reinhold outraged patrons, amassed huge debts, and turned his eldest son into an exhausted workhorse.

— Jenny Uglow, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026
The toys, like the perpetually quarrelsome Woody and Buzz or Jessie the cowgirl, who now takes center stage, have seen their boy and girl owners grow up and leave them behind.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 June 2026

Definition of quarrelsome

Browse Nearby Words

hotted (up)

hot-tempered

hot ticket

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“Hot-tempered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hot-tempered. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of hot-tempered

adjective

Example Sentences

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