rankle

verb ran·kle \ ˈraŋ-kəl \

|Updated on: 21 Aug 2018

Examples: rankle in a Sentence

Editor's Note: The Connection Between rankle and Dragon

Definition of rankle

rankled; rankling play \ˈraŋ-k(ə-)liŋ\

intransitive verb

1 : to cause anger, irritation, or deep bitterness

2 : to feel anger and irritation

transitive verb

: to cause irritation or bitterness in

See rankle defined for English-language learners

See rankle defined for kids

rankle was our Word of the Day on 03/09/2016. Hear the podcast!

Examples of rankle in a Sentence

The joke about her family rankled her.
that kind of rude treatment from a young person makes me rankle

Recent Examples of rankle from the Web

The manner in which the academy has expanded its ranks has rankled some members.

— brooks barnes, New York Times, "Latest Class of Oscar Voters Is Nearly Half Women," 25 June 2018
The amped up data-tracking has rankled some customers, who worry that even anonymized readership habits, if shared with other clients, could allow rivals to get ahead of their trades.

— telis demos, WSJ, "Big Investors Don’t Want Wall Street Analysts Snooping on Them," 14 June 2018
The use of test scores has rankled some Alliance teachers, who say the exams were not designed for this purpose.

— anna m. phillips, latimes.com, "Teachers union gains a foothold in L.A.'s largest charter school group," 2 May 2018
Parscale has rankled Trump advisers by giving the president a perpetually rosy assessment of his poll numbers.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Trump dismisses midterm threat, alarming GOP," 28 Apr. 2018
Alves was allowed to depart Barcelona with minimal fanfare on a free transfer, despite having another year to run on his contract, something that apparently still rankles with the defender.

— SI.com, "Despite Painful Exit, Dani Alves Calls Barcelona 'Home,' Open to Return," 24 Apr. 2018
Lamont’s running mate choice of Bysiewicz, the state’s top election official from 1999 to 2011 who is white, rankled many Democrats.

— neil vigdor, courant.com, "Ganim Hopes Women On Ballot Next To Him Will Boost His Chances On Primary Day," 9 July 2018
The Ramadan changes have rankled some local Muslims.

— nicolas parasie, WSJ, "Beers at Ramadan: Dubai Relaxes Rules as Gulf Countries Adapt to Draw Business," 11 June 2018
Trump’s designation of Ottawa — one of America’s staunchest allies and its largest trading partner — as a national security threat rankled officials here.

— carl prine, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Mattis acknowledges 'unusual ways' of administration, calls for patience at Asian talks," 2 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rankle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Connection Between rankle and Dragon

The history of today's word is something of a sore subject. When rankle was first used in English, it meant "to fester," and that meaning is linked to the word's Old French ancestor—the noun raoncle or draoncle, which meant "festering sore." Etymologists think this Old French word was derived from the Latin dracunculus, a diminutive form of draco, which means "serpent" and which is the source of the English word dragon. The transition from serpents to sores apparently occurred because people thought certain ulcers or tumors looked like small serpents.

Origin and Etymology of rankle

Middle English ranclen to fester, from Anglo-French rancler, from Old French draoncler, raoncler, from draoncle, raoncle festering sore, from Medieval Latin dracunculus, from Latin, diminutive of draco serpent — more at dragon

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1606

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

See Words from the same year