tempestuous

adjective

tem·​pes·​tu·​ous tem-ˈpes-chə-wəs 

-ˈpesh-

: of, relating to, or resembling a tempest : turbulent, stormy

tempestuous weather

a tempestuous relationship

tempestuously adverb

tempestuousness noun

Did you know?

Time is sometimes marked in seasons, and seasons are associated with the weather. This explains how tempestās—a Latin word for "time," "season," and "weather"—gave rise to tempestuous, an English adjective for things turbulent and stormy.

Synonyms

• bang-bang
• blood-and-guts
• convulsive
• cyclonic
• explosive
• ferocious
• fierce
• furious
• hammer-and-tongs
• hot
• knock-down, drag-out
• knock-down-and-drag-out
• paroxysmal
• rabid
• rough
• stormy
• tumultuous
• turbulent
• violent
• volcanic

Examples of tempestuous in a Sentence

order was restored to the court after the judge put a stop to the defendant's tempestuous outburst

in terms of social change, the 1960s are generally considered the most tempestuous decade in recent American history

Recent Examples on the Web

India has also withdrawn from the 1960 Indus Water Treaty that has tempered the tempestuous relations here for decades. —Nic Robertson, CNN Money, 5 May 2025

In effect, the movie creates a tempestuous Pavement world awaiting cinematic parsing and recombination. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 1 May 2025

And Gandolfini, who died of a heart attack in 2013 at age 51, was the show’s tempestuous soul, playing a loutish killer with a quick temper and sad eyes. —Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2025

That should be a clue to why stars appear to twinkle, since the ISS orbits 254 miles (409 km) above the Earth — and its tempestuous atmosphere. —Joe Rao, Space.com, 25 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English tempestuous, Latinization of tempestous, borrowed from Anglo-French, re-formation of Late Latin tempestuōsus, from tempestu-, probably extracted from Latin tempestūt-, tempestūs, archaic variant of tempestāt-, tempestās "stretch of time, season, weather, tempest entry 1" + -ōsus -ous

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tempestuous

• incestuous

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Kids Definition

tempestuous

adjective

tem·​pes·​tu·​ous tem-ˈpes-chə-wəs 

-ˈpesh-

: violent sense 1, stormy

a tempestuous sea

a tempestuous relationship

tempestuously adverb

tempestuousness noun