Synonyms of rankled

rankled 1 of 2

adjective

as in angered

feeling or showing anger

our supervisor was rankled by all the unexpected delays and problems we ran into

Synonyms & Similar Words

• angered
• infuriated
• enraged
• angry
• outraged
• indignant
• mad
• furious
• infuriate
• ballistic
• incensed
• riled
• annoyed
• sore
• irate
• livid
• rabid
• inflamed
• passionate
• apoplectic
• fuming
• wroth
• irritable
• wrathful
• roiled
• hot
• hot under the collar
• fit to be tied
• in a huff
• in a pet
• choleric
• blue in the face
• steaming
• ticked
• bent out of shape
• shirty
• hopping mad
• foaming
• in a fume
• ireful
• aggravated
• exasperated
• hopping
• cheesed off
• going crook
• bristling
• seething
• steamed up
• embittered
• resentful
• boiling
• teed off
• rancorous
• antagonistic
• horn-mad
• worked up
• wrought (up)
• unpleasant
• bristly
• riley
• vindictive
• cross
• virulent
• ranting
• spiteful
• acrimonious
• inimical
• perturbed
• churlish
• antipathetic
• vitriolic
• huffy
• burning
• disagreeable
• vengeful
• distant
• malevolent
• peevish
• smoldering
• fretful
• sulky
• acrid
• testy
• piqued
• unfriendly
• irascible
• petulant
• cantankerous
• stormy
• bitter
• touchy
• sizzling
• dyspeptic
• icy
• disapproving
• bilious
• raving
• antisocial
• belligerent
• snappish
• ornery
• frigid
• querulous
• cold
• contentious
• quarrelsome
• pugnacious
• grumpy
• grouchy
• cranky
• inflammable
• contrary
• fussy
• disputatious
• ill-tempered
• crabby
• cool
• sorehead
• argumentative
• bearish
• ill-humored
• quick-tempered
• put out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pleased
• delighted
• accepting
• accommodating
• agreeable
• amenable
• friendly
• complaisant
• sympathetic
• happy
• cordial
• satisfied
• obliging
• amicable
• content
• tolerant
• calm
• understanding
• empathetic
• kind
• pleasant
• angerless
• placid
• amiable
• sweet
• good-natured
• serene
• peaceable
• affable
• tranquil
• genial
• easygoing
• pacific
• unembittered
• good-tempered

rankled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of rankle

1

as in raged

to be excited or emotionally stirred up with anger

that kind of rude treatment from a young person makes me rankle

Synonyms & Similar Words

• raged
• steamed
• stormed
• burned
• shook
• boiled
• seethed
• fumed
• foamed
• sizzled
• agitated
• ranted
• saw red
• bristled
• raved
• inflamed
• chafed
• smoldered
• fulminated
• convulsed
• roiled
• stewed
• flared (up)
• fretted

2

as in infuriated

to make angry

it rankles me when some schools can't even afford paper and pencils for the students

Synonyms & Similar Words

• angered
• infuriated
• enraged
• annoyed
• outraged
• irritated
• incensed
• riled
• offended
• roiled
• inflamed
• maddened
• provoked
• aggravated
• ired
• ticked off
• steamed up
• nettled
• affronted
• vexed
• miffed
• exasperated
• ruffled
• peeved
• madded
• piqued
• huffed
• crossed
• rubbed the wrong way
• antagonized
• burned (up)
• got
• got one's goat
• embittered
• put out
• envenomed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pleased
• gratified
• delighted
• relieved
• allayed
• comforted
• soothed
• consoled
• assuaged
• appeased
• mollified
• settled
• quieted
• calmed
• pacified
• lulled
• charmed
• captivated
• placated
• enchanted
• disarmed
• beguiled
• bewitched
• conciliated

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of rankled

Verb

Across the litigation, Paramount had been rankled that the government and dozens of foreign regulators cleared the purchase. — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026

The secrecy around the project rankled; even though almost a quarter of it is owned by Albanian businessmen, their names are hidden in an offshore corporation. — Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026

Districts rankled by LifeWise rollout On a Friday in May, a LifeWise program director notified a Denton ISD middle school that Bible classes would begin the following Monday. — Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026

In one season under Walter, season-ticket price increases rankled Lakers fans. — Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026

But solar expansion in South Georgia has rankled residents in some areas. — Kristi Swartz, AJC.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Adam Heimerman kept seeing the surveillance cameras on his way to work as a river guide in East Tennessee, and the sight rankled him. — Annie Gowen, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2026

Upon taking over as chairman, Tom Pohlad insisted the club needed to atone for a series of mistakes made by ownership over 2 1/2 years that rankled fans and players alike. — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026

When Epstein’s appointment was announced, his political leanings – his cover letter for the role laid out an explicitly conservative vision – as well as his relative lack of experience rankled many FIU law faculty members. — Austin Horn july 24, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026