tempestuous
/tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/
tempestuous means of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy. It carries an Arena rating of 1484, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tempestuous ranks #1,607 of 17,115 for Most Vivid Words, #2,667 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #3,051 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,169 of 17,118 for Most Ponderous Words.
tempestuous is pronounced /tɛmˈpɛs.tjʊ.əs/.
Why “tempestuous” is a great word
Characterized by or resembling a violent storm, either literally in weather or figuratively in describing turbulent emotions or tumultuous events. From Late Middle English tempesteus, tempestous, from Anglo-Norman and Old French tempesteus, tempestous, and directly from Latin tempestuōsus ("stormy, turbulent"), from tempestās ("period of time, season, storm"), from tempus ("time"); first recorded in English 1500–10. Unlike "turbulent," which emphasizes chaotic motion in a broad, often impersonal context, or "tumultuous," which describes noisy public uproar, "tempestuous" is the specific, sudden squall of the private soul. It is the lover who flings wineglasses at midnight then weeps in the wreckage by morning, the sea heaving against a granite coast, and the crack of thunder that vibrates in the chest—a reminder that the fiercest climates are interior, and that time itself, from which the word descends, can turn against us, gathering force.
Etymology
From Late Middle English tempestious, tempestous, tempestuous (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous”), from Anglo-Norman tempestous, and Old French tempesteus, tempestos, tempestous, tempestuose (modern French tempétueux), and directly from its etymon Latin tempestuōsus (“stormy, turbulent, tempestuous; impetuous”), from tempestās, tempestūs (“point or period of time; season; weather, specifically bad weather; storm, tempest”) (from tempus (“period of time; (rare) weather”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- (“to cut”) or *ten- (“to extend, stretch”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is equivalent to tempest + -uous (a variant of -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality, typically i
adj
- Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a tempest; also, of a place: frequently experiencing tempests; (very) stormy.
- Characterized by disorderly, frenetic, or violent activity; stormy, tumultuous, turbulent; also, of a person, their behaviour or nature, etc.: characterized by bouts of bad temper or sudden changes of mood; impetuous, stormy, temperamental.e.g.“After their tempestuous argument, they did not speak to each other for weeks.”
Words closest in meaning
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