temperamental

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English temperament

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālisbor.

Old French -albor.

▲

Latin -ālis

Old French -elbor.

▲

Latin -ālisbor.

Middle English -al

English -al

English temperamental

From temperament + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌtɛmp(ə)ɹəˈmɛntl̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

Adjective

temperamental (comparative more temperamental, superlative most temperamental)

1. (not comparable) Of, related to, or caused by temperament.
2. Subject to changing and unpredictable emotional states; moody, capricious.
3. (of a machine or of software, figuratively) User-unfriendly, unstable, that is complicated or has poorly written instructions and is subsequently difficult to operate; unpredictable and erratic.

Derived terms

• temperamentalism
• temperamentalist
• temperamentality
• temperamentally
• untemperamental

Translations

emotional or moody, inconsistent

• Czech: náladový, vrtošivý (cs)
• Danish: temperamentsfuld
• Finnish: temperamenttinen, oikutteleva (fi)
• French: caractériel (fr)
• Macedonian: и́збувлив (ízbuvliv), темпераме́нтен (temperaménten)
• Māori: hārakiraki, hūkokikoki
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: temperamentsfull

  Nynorsk: temperamentsfull

• Polish: kapryśny (pl), temperamentny
• Portuguese: temperamental
• Romanian: temperamental (ro) m
• Slovak: náladový
• Spanish: temperamental

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English temperamental. By surface analysis, temperamento +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tẽ.pe.ɾa.mẽˈtaw/ [tẽ.pe.ɾa.mẽˈtaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tẽ.pɨ.ɾɐ.mẽˈtal/ [tẽ.pɨ.ɾɐ.mẽˈtaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tẽ.pɨ.ɾɐ.mẽˈtal/ [tẽ.pɨ.ɾɐ.mẽˈtaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /tẽ.pɨ.ɾɐ.mẽˈta.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: tem‧pe‧ra‧men‧tal

Adjective

temperamental m or f (plural temperamentais)

1. temperamental (regarding temperament)
2. temperamental (who has untimely and intense reactions)

Further reading

• “temperamental”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “temperamental”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “temperamental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

From temperament +‎ -al.

Adjective

temperamental m or n (feminine singular temperamentală, masculine plural temperamentali, feminine/neuter plural temperamentale)

1. temperamental, moody

Declension

Declension of temperamental

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	temperamental		temperamentală	temperamentali	temperamentale
	definite	temperamentalul		temperamentala	temperamentalii	temperamentalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	temperamental		temperamentale	temperamentali	temperamentale
	definite	temperamentalului		temperamentalei	temperamentalilor	temperamentalelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tempeɾamenˈtal/ [t̪ẽm.pe.ɾa.mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: tem‧pe‧ra‧men‧tal

Adjective

temperamental m or f (masculine and feminine plural temperamentales)

1. temperamental, moody

Derived terms

• temperamentalmente

Further reading

• “temperamental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025