Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on Ephesians 4:31

31. bitterness--both of spirit and of speech: opposed to "kind."

wrath--passion for a time: opposed to "tender-hearted." Whence Bengel translates for "wrath," harshness.

anger--lasting resentment: opposed to "forgiving one another."

clamour--compared by Chrysostom to a horse carrying anger for its rider: "Bridle the horse, and you dismount its rider." "Bitterness" begets "wrath"; "wrath," "anger"; "anger," "clamor"; and "clamor," the more chronic "evil-speaking," slander, insinuations, and surmises of evil. "Malice" is the secret root of all: "fires fed within, and not appearing to by-standers from without, are the most formidable" [Chrysostom].