temperish

English

Etymology

temper +‎ -ish

Adjective

temperish (comparative more temperish, superlative most temperish)

1. Peevish; cross.
   • 1931, Jennie Grace Walker, Habits and Skills, page 137:

     If our reaction is temperish, Great Britain gets it five minutes after she sends her message.

   • 2016, Caroline Shenton, Mr Barry's War:

     The day Barry left, Pugin made a temperish comment in his diary: 'The present condition of the architecture is deplorable. Truth reduced to the position of an interesting but rare and curious relic.'

   • 2017, Robert Edmond Alter, Shovel Nose and the Gator Grabbers:

     As a general rule he had five simple emotion gears: he was either hungry, sleepy, curious, frightened, or temperish .

2. Having a bad-tempered disposition; moody or volatile.
   • 1898, John B. Small, The Human Heart Illustrated by Nine Figures of the Heart:

     It is discerned that a child is temperish, or so inclined; the intention, of course, is to avert the current of this coming tide.

   • 1931, Dorothy Leigh Sayers, The Five Red Herrings:

     His whole person was noticeable, too – the wide, ridgy shoulders, tumbling fair hair and queer, light eyes, temperish, pouted mouth and heavy jaw.

   • 1931, Lucy Maud Montgomery, A Tangled Web:

     Emilia Trask had money but she had a temperish look.

Anagrams

• hemipters, herpetism