rankle

ran·kle

Heather grew more rankled when she questioned her boyfriend and he pretended not to know what happened.

verb

To rankle is to cause someone to have long-lasting annoyance, anger or irritation.

When you say something to someone that you know will cause upset and anger, this is an example of a time when you rankle someone.

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"rankle." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle>.

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rankle. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle

rankle

intransitive verb

transitive verb

-·kled, -·kling

Obs. to fester; become or make inflamed
to cause or cause to have long-lasting anger, rancor, resentment, etc.: their indifference rankled him

Origin of rankle

Middle English ranclen from Old French rancler from raoncle, draoncle, a fester, ulcer from Medieval Latin dracunculus from L, diminutive of draco, dragon

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"rankle." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle>.

APA Style

rankle. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle

rankle

verb

ran·kled, ran·kling, ran·kles

verb

intransitive

To cause persistent irritation or resentment: “Although Johnson's assertion of raw power rankled at the time, Mitchell had come to appreciate its simple logic” ( Nick Kotz )
To feel or express irritation or resentment about something: She rankled at what she considered to be unfair criticism.
To become sore or inflamed; fester: a wound that rankled.

verb

transitive

To cause (someone) to feel irritated or resentful: He was rankled by his rival's sudden success.

Origin of rankle

Middle English ranclen from Old French raoncler, rancler alteration of draoncler from draoncle festering sore, ulcer from Medieval Latin dracunculus from diminutive of dracō dracōn- serpent, dragon ( in reference to the fiery red color and pain of a sore or to the irregular shape of some festering sores ) from Latin serpent, fabulous serpentine beast ; see dragon.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"rankle." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle>.

APA Style

rankle. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle

Verb

(third-person singular simple present rankles, present participle rankling, simple past and past participle rankled)

(intransitive) To cause irritation or deep bitterness.
(intransitive) To fester.
a splinter rankles in the flesh

Anagrams

lanker

Origin

First attested in 1320. From Old French rancler, draoncler (“to ulcerate, to form a boil"), from draoncle (“a boil"), from Latin dracunculus (“little serpent"), diminutive of dracÅ (“serpent, dragon").

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"rankle." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle>.

APA Style

rankle. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/rankle

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