--- description: Lookups for the definition of the word "temperament" spiked and became a top search on Google during Monday first U.S. presidential debate title: "Temperament" Is Top Search Trend After Presidential Debate image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3529b5b1dd5beca2/6988a7a5cf40a8ceacc44f45/debate_clinton_trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [presidential debate](/tag/presidential-debate/) ## presidential debate Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Word Became a Top Search Trend During the Presidential Debate by [Suyin Haynes](/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 27, 2016 11:18 AM CUT  From left to right: Patrick Semansky—AP; Julio Cortez—AP by [Suyin Haynes](/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 27, 2016 11:18 AM CUT Searches for the definition of the word “temperament” spiked during Monday night’s [U.S. presidential debate](http://time.com/4508932/presidential-debate-trump-clinton-television/ "undefined") between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. After each candidate referred to the other’s “temperament” during the debate, Merriam Webster [reported](http://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/trump-and-clinton-accuse-each-other-of-having-the-wrong-temperament-to-be-president-20160926 "undefined") that searches for the word increased 78 times over the online dictionary’s hourly average. The dictionary definition of the word is [cited](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/temperament "undefined") as “the usual attitude, mood, or behavior of a person or animal”. The word also [spiked as a Google search term](https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%201-d&geo=US&q=temperament "undefined") during the screening of the debate, reaching peak popularity across the U.S. after it was mentioned multiple times. The first televised showdown between Trump and Clinton was also the [most-tweeted presidential debate ever](http://time.com/4508981/presidential-debate-twitter-clinton-trump/ "undefined"). When asked by moderator Lester Holt why his judgement was any different than Clinton’s, Trump [replied](http://time.com/4508768/presidential-debate-trump-clinton-transcript/?xid=homepage "undefined") “Well, I have much better judgment than she does. There’s no question about that. I also have a much better temperament than she has, you know?” After some laughter from the audience, the Republican candidate continued, arguing that “I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament. I have a winning temperament. I know how to win.” Later on in the debate in reference to Trump’s previous comments on foreign policy, Clinton said “That’s bad judgment. That is not the right temperament to be commander in chief.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4509240/top-word-presidential-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4509240/top-word-presidential-debate/"},"headline":"This Word Became a Top Search Trend During the Presidential Debate","datePublished":"2016-09-27T11:18:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:51:07.995Z","description":"Donald Trump says his is much better than Hillary Clinton's","url":"https://time.com/4509240/top-word-presidential-debate/","keywords":["presidential debate","Hillary Clinton","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3529b5b1dd5beca2/6988a7a5cf40a8ceacc44f45/debate_clinton_trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3529b5b1dd5beca2/6988a7a5cf40a8ceacc44f45/debate_clinton_trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"debate_clinton_trump","caption":"","creditText":"From left to right: Patrick Semansky—AP; Julio Cortez—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/presidential-debate/","name":"presidential debate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4509240/top-word-presidential-debate/","name":"This Word Became a Top Search Trend During the Presidential Debate"}}]}] ```