rancid
adjective
ran·cid
ˈran(t)-səd 
1
: having an unpleasant smell or taste usually from chemical change or decomposition
rancid butter
rancid breath
2
: distinctly unpleasant or distasteful : offensive
a rancid sexual scandal
Without free speech, even in its most rancid forms, we may have nothing to choose at night but old movies and "Heeeeeeeere's Johnny!"—
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Did you know?
Rancid and putrid and fetid—oh my! While all three words are used to describe unpleasant smells and tastes, each also traces its roots to a “stinky” Latin word: rancid can be traced back to the Latin rancēre; the root of putrid shares an ancestor with putēre; and fetid comes from foetēre—all verbs meaning “to stink.” Not long after entering the language in the early 17th century, rancid also developed a second, figurative sense which is used for non-gustatory and non-olfactory offenses, as in “rancid hypocrisy.”
Examples of rancid in a Sentence
Some foods become rancid quickly.
an unscrupulous food vendor who's as rancid as the meat that he serves
Recent Examples on the Web
Davis was hardly the first to succumb to the lure of the corpse flower (not to be confused with Amorphophallus titanum, which has a giant phallic protrusion and also happens to smell like rancid meat and bear the nickname corpse flower).
—Hillary Rosner, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2013
This research extends to the effects of pH and cooking temperature on meaty and species flavor, sweetness, barnyard, and rancid flavor in sheep-meat.
—Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010
However, excessive levels of lipolysis could lead to a rancid taste (McSweeney and Sousa 2000; Collins et al. 2003b).
—Ashton Yoon, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2017
Fish supplements that contain omega-3s are prone to going rancid.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 4 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for rancid
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Hillary Rosner, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2013
This research extends to the effects of pH and cooking temperature on meaty and species flavor, sweetness, barnyard, and rancid flavor in sheep-meat.
—Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010
However, excessive levels of lipolysis could lead to a rancid taste (McSweeney and Sousa 2000; Collins et al. 2003b).
—Ashton Yoon, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2017
Fish supplements that contain omega-3s are prone to going rancid.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 4 Apr. 2022
See All Example Sentences for rancid
Cite this Entry
“Rancid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rancid. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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Medical Definition
rancid
adjective
ran·cid
ˈran(t)-səd
: having a rank smell or taste usually from chemical change or decomposition
rancid butter
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