rankle

verb

ran·​kle ˈraŋ-kəl 

rankled; rankling 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

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The Connection Between Rankle and Dragon

When rankle was first used in English, it meant "to fester," and that meaning is related to French words referring to a sore and tracing to Latin dracunculus. The Latin is from draco, the word for a serpent and the source of English's dragon. The transition from serpents to sores is apparently from people associating the appearance of certain ulcers or tumors to small serpents.

Synonyms

• steam
• rage
• burn
• boil
• storm
• seethe
• shake
• foam
• fume

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 on the Web

That has rankled Washington’s partners, some of whom have called for more intraregional trade. —semafor.com, 10 July 2025

The first meeting of new vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrapped up Thursday after days of discussions that rankled mainstream scientists, public health experts and major medical associations. —Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 27 June 2025

Verbeek still realizes his decision will rankle some Ducks supporters who won’t be happy to lose the most interesting player on a few terrible Anaheim teams in recent years. —Greg Beacham, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2025

His soul-searching journey, played out on podcasts and talk shows, and attempts to moderate have rankled some of his allies in the Legislature, the labor movement and reproductive health care. —Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 1 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for rankle

• ankle

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Kids Definition

rankle

verb

ran·​kle ˈraŋ-kəl 

rankled; rankling -k(ə-)liŋ 

: to cause anger, irritation, or deep bitterness

Etymology

Middle English ranclen "to fester," from early French rancler (same meaning), derived from earlier draoncle, raoncle "a festering sore," from Latin dracunculus "little serpent, little dragon," from earlier draco "serpent, dragon," from Greek drākon "serpent, dragon" — related to dragon

Word Origin

The Greek word drakōn, meaning "serpent, dragon," was borrowed into Latin as draco. Later, the noun dracunculus, meaning "little serpent," was formed from draco. The French borrowed this noun as draoncle or raoncle but used it for "a festering sore or ulcer." It seems that the form of such a sore looked something like the form of a small serpent. From the noun the French formed the verb rancler, "to fester." In the 14th century, the verb was taken into English as rankle, with the same meaning. Our word dragon also comes from the Greek drakōn by way of the Latin draco.